tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-198465312024-03-23T14:35:40.122-04:00A Lovely PromiseHuman rights, war and peace, politics, and gardening.
<br><br>
Smithers: <i>Are those tears, sir? The label specifically says 'No more tears'.</i><br>
Mr. Burns: <i>A lovely promise, but one beyond the powers of a mere shampoo...</i>Nellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01969732734453586544noreply@blogger.comBlogger206125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19846531.post-41354619061699807312024-02-14T14:29:00.101-05:002024-03-07T13:35:20.378-05:00Covid isn't over.But the Biden administration and its Centers for Disease Control (CDC) would like to pretend it is. So they're floating a <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/other/cdc-plans-to-drop-five-day-covid-isolation-guidelines/ar-BB1icG15">trial balloon</a><a> to reduce their recommendation for isolation/stay-at-home after a positive Covid test to one (1!) day. California and Oregon have recently taken this step, both with minimal notice and little explanation.<br /><br />
First of all, the current guidance of staying home 5 days is already too short. People infected by breathing in the SARS-CoV-2 virus start shedding the virus (breathing it out in an aerosol that hangs in the air like smoke) several days before they develop symptoms, and for 7-9 days after (range: 6-11 days). The earliest CDC isolation guidance in 2020 was for 14 days, based on this clinical evidence of infectious days after exposure and applying the precautionary principle to minimize spread; it was shortened later that year to 10 days. The change to the much shorter, inadequate 5-day period was made in <a href= "https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/27/health/cdc-covid-quarantine-isolation-shortened-recommendation/index.html">late 2021</a><a>, right after public lobbying pressure by airline executives. Nothing then or since changed about the science of infectious days after Covid exposure, as Julia Doubleday shows in an incisive review of <a href="https://www.thegauntlet.news/p/one-little-covid-infection-is-no">CDC's relationship with Covid infection science</a><a>.<br><br>
In the intervening years there has been some evidence that <a href=" https://time.com/6215346/covid-19-rest-helps/ ">rest is of special importance</a><a> to optimal recovery from the acute phase of Covid infection, which would argue for returning to the original 10-day isolation. Even stronger support comes from the mounting pile of studies showing that repeat infections increase the risk of Covid's <a href="https://johnsnowproject.org/fact/all-infections-can-cause-serious-problems/">many and various</a><a> <a href=" https://johnsnowproject.org/insights/the-reality-gap/ ">long-term harms</a><a>. In the face of those harms, especially given the number of people who've already had more than one case of Covid, public health advice should recommend no action that actually increases the chances to catch it (say, from sick schoolmates or co-workers who were only given one day off).
<br><br>Minimizing Covid as a "normal seasonal respiratory illness" by grouping it with flu and RSV has been going on for a while in the Biden administration's messaging, so it's no surprise to see it deployed here as a reason for shortening the stay-home to just a day to "harmonize" with them. My question is, why not harmonize by extending the RSV and flu isolation period to 5 days? Bouts with those diseases are rough on people. Encouragingly, a doctor quoted in NPR's <a href="https://www.npr.org/2024/02/13/1231221266/the-cdc-may-soon-drop-its-isolation-guidance-for-people-with-covid-19">report</a><a> on the CDC decision reacts with the same recommendation. It should be emphasized, though (and wasn't even mentioned in the NPR story), that <a href= " https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2024/02/covid-anniversary-flu-isolation-cdc/677588/ "> more people die</a><a> from Covid than from flu. Also ignored, as usual, is the apparently unmentionable elephant in the room: neither flu nor RSV does the kind of lasting or varied organ and systemic damage that Covid can. Unlike flu or RSV, Covid is as much a vascular as a respiratory disease; the virus binds to ACE-2 receptors, which are found in every part of the body with capillaries.
<br><br>Another purported reason for shortening Covid isolation to just a day is to reflect "the new reality — with most people having developed a level of immunity to the virus because of prior infection or vaccination." <b>There. is. no. such. new. reality.</b> "A level of immunity" = one so weak and easily evaded, even among the diminishing population slice of the fully-vaxxed-and-boosted, that it doesn't completely prevent infection when exposed to the virus. Breakthrough infections are routine, and even more common is re-infection among unvaccinated people.<br><br>
Here's the actual, stark "new reality": we've allowed a majority of the population, including growing children, to get infected repeatedly with a virus that does long-term damage to a wide variety of organs and systems, including the immune system itself -- and the risk for such damage rises with each new infection. In some non-trivial percentage of people who are infected, the virus persists in the body and causes the chronic illnesses known as Long Covid. It's a <a href="https://www.help.senate.gov/hearings/addressing-long-covid-advancing-research-and-improving-patient-care">mass disabling event</a><a> already; the real question is what the eventual scale and severity are going to be. The obvious priority for public health is to minimize any more infections, particularly among those who have already had multiple cases.<br><br>
The best chance to keep infection by SARS-2 to a minimum is by putting in place <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss_cheese_model">layers of protection</a><a> beyond just vaccines: mitigations like ventilation, air filtering, effective masks, testing and isolation, paid sick leave, remote options for meetings and work, etc. A bonus is that these mitigations are equally protective against all variants of the SARS-2 virus, the many other existing airborne pathogens (including colds, flu, and RSV), and those that may arrive in the future. Not to mention those that threaten to return from the past, like measles.
<br><br><b>Update:</b> The CDC put out a non-denial denial of the story, which only makes prompt feedback more important. The planned timing seems to be April, when infections drop, but if the stay-at-home guidance goes away it will be nearly impossible to bring back when cases rise again. Let them hear from you at their <a href="https://wwwn.cdc.gov/dcs/ContactUs/Form">Contact Form</a><a>. Shoot down this dangerous trial balloon with flaming arrows!
<br><br><b>Update 2:</b> The timing turns out to be <a href= "https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2024/p0301-respiratory-virus.html">Friday, March 1</a><a>. There is no comment period; it takes effect immediately. The guidance explicitly ties ending isolation not to testing negative, which means no longer being infectious, but to improvement in symptoms like fever. This is <a href="https://newrepublic.com/article/179304/covid-cdc-guidelines-isolation-symptoms">unsupported by any science</a><a>, and completely focused on the individual rather than the community. Between this dangerous, compromised advice in a persistent pandemic and the horrific co-genocide with Israel, the idea of voting for Joe Biden right now has become unbearable.Nellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01969732734453586544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19846531.post-37939927285729384712014-07-26T10:46:00.003-04:002014-07-26T15:15:10.371-04:00Gaza massacres are the price of a Jewish state<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRDokgfwsY1niwV5aA17Ft_KuWNdH1LnlPw6fHIvL03K5SWkZw5kNcorDIjGvxQACOhjma58tneVmWkpFZ9F0YFqSaAjm55SaDD-v_BGaf8p7AQWm28082xIBsc3h-60PXL1WVoA/s1600/Gaza+-+Shejaiya+25+July+2014+img.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRDokgfwsY1niwV5aA17Ft_KuWNdH1LnlPw6fHIvL03K5SWkZw5kNcorDIjGvxQACOhjma58tneVmWkpFZ9F0YFqSaAjm55SaDD-v_BGaf8p7AQWm28082xIBsc3h-60PXL1WVoA/s320/Gaza+-+Shejaiya+25+July+2014+img.jpg" /></a><br>As the Israeli army pauses its shelling of neighborhoods, hospitals, and ambulances in Gaza, Ali Abunimah <a href="http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/gaza-massacre-price-jewish-state">distills</a> the situation to its essence:
<blockquote>Israel cannot exist “as a Jewish state” without violating the rights of all Palestinians to varying degrees... The massacre in Gaza is at the extreme end of the spectrum of abuses necessary to maintain Jewish sectarian rule in Palestine, but it is part of the same policy that requires employment and housing discrimination against Palestinian citizens of Israel, and outright land theft and ethnic cleansing in the Naqab (Negev) and the occupied West Bank.<br /><br />
If you support Israel’s “right to exist as a Jewish state” in a country whose indigenous Palestinian people today form half the population, then you ... must come to terms with the inevitability of massacres.
If you oppose the horrific, repeated massacres in Gaza, then join the movement for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS), a movement that aims to decolonize Palestine and restore to all the people all their legitimate and inalienable rights.</blockquote><br />
Resources: Abunimah's book <a href="http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/my-new-book-battle-justice-palestine">The Battle for Justice in Palestine</a>. The <a href="http://www.endtheoccupation.org/">U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation</a> holds its annual <a href="http://www.endtheoccupation.org/section.php?id=477">conference</a> for organizers September 19-21 (wish it were closer than San Diego). The Palestinian <a href="http://www.bdsmovement.net/call">call</a> for boycott, divestment and sanctions. A more recent <a href="http://www.bdsmovement.net/StopArmingIsrael">petition</a> calling for international arms embargo to Israel.<br><br>
Photo: Shejaiya neighborhood in Gaza 26 July 2014, destroyed this week by Israeli shelling and aerial bombing. Photo via Kate Benyon-Tinker (<a href="https://twitter.com/katebt3000">@katebt3000</a>), Middle East producer for BBC.Nellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01969732734453586544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19846531.post-9359482925620977372011-03-24T21:13:00.004-04:002011-03-24T21:21:08.684-04:00Msgr. Oscar Romero: ¡Presente!<i>Peace is not the product of terror or fear. Peace is not the silence of cemeteries. Peace is not the silent result of violent repression. Peace is the generous, tranquil contribution of all to the good of all. Peace is dynamism. Peace is generosity. It is right and it is duty.</i><br /><br />Oscar Romero, Archbishop of San Salvador, assassinated March 24, 1980.Nellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01969732734453586544noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19846531.post-86713599610505469812011-02-11T12:45:00.010-05:002014-11-16T16:16:43.216-05:00Egypt: huge milestoneCongratulations, people of Egypt!<br /><br />I look forward to this banner being re-hung in Tahrir Square with the first demand checked off, because the next several are just as crucial. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIzt1HmXRD5mEOmctxZm26qwqn1tFn0yoACo7E7NSRcA7gyJD3i2zZY1LIVRdDK9l3oIKDWnyGKpPG7gKKrPbJFA5Px3wIPrzwxvNNSverCQIdBbBcTMrirS2QaQnZAIrvr8Iyyw/s1600/Egypt+-+banner+w+demands+4+Feb+Hossam+Elhamalawy+3arabawy.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIzt1HmXRD5mEOmctxZm26qwqn1tFn0yoACo7E7NSRcA7gyJD3i2zZY1LIVRdDK9l3oIKDWnyGKpPG7gKKrPbJFA5Px3wIPrzwxvNNSverCQIdBbBcTMrirS2QaQnZAIrvr8Iyyw/s320/Egypt+-+banner+w+demands+4+Feb+Hossam+Elhamalawy+3arabawy.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5572490511148863890" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />1. Resignation of the president<br />2. End the State of Emergency<br />3. Dissolution of the People’s Assembly and Shura Council<br />4. Formation of a national transitional government<br />5. An elected Parliament that will amend the Constitution to allow for presidential elections<br />6. Immediate prosecution for those responsible of the deaths of the revolution’s martyrs<br />7. Immediate prosecution of the corrupters and those who robbed the country of its wealth.<br /><br />Youths of Egypt<br /><br />The banner first appeared on February 4. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/elhamalawy/5416917651/">Photo</a> by Hossam el-Hamalawy (<a href="http://twitter.com/3arabawy">3arabawy</a>)Nellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01969732734453586544noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19846531.post-46543439695677185052010-01-15T06:32:00.021-05:002010-06-17T11:13:52.753-04:00How to help Haitians<a href="http://photos.pih.org/home2.html">Partners in Health</a> has been working in Haiti in an exemplary way for years. The literal collapse of many medical facilities in Port au Prince and other areas hardest hit by the quake has made their network of clinics and local health workers an even more important part of the country's sparse medical infrastructure. Please <a href="http://www.standwithhaiti.org/haiti">support</a> them today.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmD6yIupURjxbEOnvPzNBf7BhiJCr-0OgeJD826AfSvL-3T3WHaNjwg9t_zntCBG07Z956TMSDlEWCCAQSj5IdWz-Gxv7sIUiVkLxyCribN8fdVK2obJuUvYPQPPregfBXFHqncQ/s1600-h/Haiti+mil.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 193px; height: 105px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmD6yIupURjxbEOnvPzNBf7BhiJCr-0OgeJD826AfSvL-3T3WHaNjwg9t_zntCBG07Z956TMSDlEWCCAQSj5IdWz-Gxv7sIUiVkLxyCribN8fdVK2obJuUvYPQPPregfBXFHqncQ/s320/Haiti+mil.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5427030788867561826" /></a>Some people consider it unseemly to speak about the political context in which a massive, tragic catastrophe is happening. If you're one of those people, please stop reading this post now. <br /><br />On February 29, 2004, the U.S. government helped depose the elected President of Haiti, Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Marines forced him onto a plane in the middle of the night and flew him to the Central African Republic. With U.S. and U.N. military and economic support, Haiti's new rulers launched a campaign of assassination, detentions, and intimidation against leaders and activists of Aristide's Lavalas party. The U.N. "peacekeepers" have participated in this campaign, firing on demonstrators, ignoring crimes committed against Lavalas activists by the police (who are being trained by the U.N. troops), and massacring civilians while carrying out sweeps in Lavalas neighborhoods against "criminal gangs". <br /><br />Lavalas candidates have been prevented from running in subsequent elections. Their exclusion from this past spring's Senate election resulted in a massive boycott; even the government claimed only 11% participation. Now they have been barred again from the general elections scheduled for February 28, the eve of the coup's sixth anniversary.<br /><br />Through all this, most of the U.S. political class has painted the overthrow and forced exile of Aristide and the reimposition of government for the rich as a good thing, a "transition to democracy". (This <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-01-13/haiti-in-crisis/">piece</a> by Mark Leon Goldberg of UN Dispatch is typical.) This is a lie, as big a lie as the claim that the coup against Pres. Manuel Zelaya in Honduras was a legal "democratic transition".<br /><br />The Obama administration, and the State Department run by Sec. Clinton, are firmly committed to this lie and the policies for which it is a cover story. But suppression of the largest political party in the country is not going to make it, or Haiti's poor, disappear. Haiti can only rebuild and develop if its people drive that development. An organization supporting such work is the <a href="http://www.haitiaction.net/About/HERF/HERF.html">Haiti Emergency Relief Fund</a>. Your solidarity can make a difference to Haitians struggling for something they need as badly as shelter, food, and water: genuine democracy.<br /><br /><i><b>Update:</b> 3:15pm, 19 Jan - </i>Media analyst <a href="http://www.zmag.org/zspace/commentaries/4112">Danny Schechter</a> forthrightly assesses the near-FUBAR relief effort, which is making the situation even more explosive. <i>[Hat tip to Rupa Shah in comments at <a href="http://tinyrevolution.com/mt/">A Tiny Revolution</a>.]</i> <a href="http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/2010/01/20101196265844450.html">Mark LeVine</a> has an incisive overview of exactly how the U.S.-imposed economic model has set Haiti up for maximum damage from the recent series of natural disasters.<br /><br />On the horizon is a prolonged U.S.-U.N. occupation of Haiti, even more comprehensive than the MINUSTAH mission that's been in place for the last five years. The proconsuls of the "international community" will do everything in their power to prevent Aristide from returning, but that demand will be heard again and more often as the crisis deepens. <br /><br />State spokesman P.J. Crowley, a reliable fount of empire-speak, <blockquote><i><a href="http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/americas/UN-Time-Running-Out-for-Quake-Victims-in-Haiti-81765417.html">says</a> the Obama administration is discouraging visits to Haiti by prominent political figures, including Mr. Aristide. "The last thing that we need is to have someone land and put an additional burden in an already-stressed situation," said Crowley. "We've sent that same message to our members of Congress."</i></blockquote>Ass. Aristide wouldn't be jetting in for a "visit" like prominent political figure Secretary of State Clinton (whose arrival caused the U.S. to hold up landings of relief planes for hours), he'd be <i>a citizen of Haiti returning to his country</i>, from which he is illegally being barred.<br /><br /><i><b>Update 2:</b> 6:15pm, 19 Jan - </i>People-to-people solidarity ties are the way around our overlords' high-handed approach of creating ever-deeper dependence. The <a href="http://www.grassrootsonline.org/news/blog/letter-camille-chalmers-papda">program</a> developed by Haitian popular organizations themselves should be the rebuilding project that we support by word and action, not the kind of "help" our government wants to impose. (Did you know that the International Monetary Fund conditioned <i>disaster relief funds</i> to Haiti on an immediate freeze in public sector wages and a rise in electricity rates? No, apparently there's not a minute to waste in even a fleeting gesture of human compassion; the only thing to do in a crisis on this scale is to press the advantage.)<br /><br /><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/harry-shearer/how-to-help-in-haiti-the_b_425800.html">Beverly Bell</a> puts it well:<br /><blockquote>Friends: There are ways that your donation, no matter how small, can have a big impact. They are not via the huge bureaucracies, but via the foundations who have long histories of accompanying, trusting, and strengthening the grassroots groups which, in Haiti, are the only ones who have ever made a sustained difference. These are small foundations that know that the only thing that ever works in Haiti is for people to have control over their own rebuilding, over their own communities, and over their own needs and destinies. These are the small foundations who understand that the best that they can do is strengthen those groups' capacities and strength with funding, infrastructure, and technical support.<br /><br />The need today is of course enormous and overwhelming. Even the UN and Red Cross have no idea how to respond to a calamity of this size. Past the urgency of everyone now getting food and water (which will not happen) and the wounded getting care <br />(neither), what will be needed is what the Lambi Fund called today "second responders." That involves rebuilding the efforts that were under way to move Haiti "from misery to poverty with dignity," as it is known there. That is the slow, careful work of helping grassroots movements get back on their feet, reclaim what they lost, and move forward - both individually, and as organized movements working for change and justice.</blockquote><br />We're not yet beyond the first responder stage, for which Partners in Health is the best "multiplier" channel. But the <a href="http://www.lambifund.org">Lambi Fund</a> and <a href="http://www.grassrootsonline.org">Grassroots International</a>, along with the Haiti Emergency Relief Fund, are organizations of integrity that have earned the respect and trust of Haiti's real leaders.<br />.Nellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01969732734453586544noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19846531.post-4997000256446419842009-12-14T14:10:00.016-05:002010-01-15T19:12:04.803-05:00Honduras: death toll updateFor more than a month I haven't been able to bring myself to post; I haven't even done much commenting on other sites following the situation.<br /><br />But my promise to update the post summarizing murders of resistance activists (<a href="http://alovelypromise.blogspot.com/2009/10/honduras-high-price-of-struggle.html">Honduras: high price of the struggle</a>) forces me to note a number of additions:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ8PV_-KVCKTnEGVLeYM9AZIrjA3wIXucASoYWb4tjDfy-ue76OBtXth7yaa68nCnBenn7ibUp7IGuFcUIXz6Tl2GMjSl8JoQZ8woRIiZzgMJYLz1hdaHizIgD5Mi-OJYR-yP_jA/s1600-h/Honduras+-+Luis+Gradis+Espinal+25+Nov+2009.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 227px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ8PV_-KVCKTnEGVLeYM9AZIrjA3wIXucASoYWb4tjDfy-ue76OBtXth7yaa68nCnBenn7ibUp7IGuFcUIXz6Tl2GMjSl8JoQZ8woRIiZzgMJYLz1hdaHizIgD5Mi-OJYR-yP_jA/s320/Honduras+-+Luis+Gradis+Espinal+25+Nov+2009.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415188990642388738" /></a><b>Luis Gradis Espinal</b>, a teacher from the department of Valle, was <a href="http://hondurasresists.blogspot.com/2009/11/day-159-of-resistance-despite-state.html">found dead</a> on Wednesday, November 25 in Las Casitas neighborhood in western Tegucigalpa. He was tied and had been executed. His family reported him disappeared when he didn't return after having left for the capital on Sunday, Nov. 22. During the weeks before the election (and since) there were dozens of police search and captures for resistance participants.<br /><br /><b>Isaac Coello</b>, 24; <b>Roger Reyes</b>, 22; <b>Kenneth Rosa</b>, 23; <b>Gabriel Parrales</b>; and <b>Marco Vinicio Matute</b>, 39. The five men, active in the resistance from the Victor F. Ardon and Honduras neighborhoods of Tegucigalpa, were <a href="http://www.defensoresenlinea.com/cms/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=554:hombres-vestidos-de-militares-y-policias-asesinan-a-cinco-jovenes-de-la-resistencia&catid=42:seg-y-jus&Itemid=159">massacred</a> <i>[Sp.]</i> on December 7 by men in military and police uniforms. A young woman working with them was also shot, but not fatally; she survived by pretending to be dead.<br /><br /><b>Santos Corrales García</b> was <a href="http://hibueras.blogspot.com/2009/12/santos-corrales-garcia-presente.html">found dead</a> <i>[Sp.]</i> on Thursday, December 10, near Talanga (50 km east of Tegucigalpa). His body was headless. On December 5 Corrales had been taken away with four others from the Nueva Capital neighborhood of Tegucigalpa by five men dressed in uniforms of the national criminal investigation directorate (DNIC). He was tortured and interrogated about the location of a businesswoman who provided supplies to the resistance during demonstrations. The two men and two women who were taken with Corrales were transported, tied hand and foot, dumped at highway exits far from home and told not to return to their neighborhoods.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXFjptIOR7Cir2sJOwNOnZV3So2KgpOJ9Q8sT_1fYHHbfL6DQaDNpZynhyphenhyphenCcP8LZhjtqfniIHIcfp0Mk5vy38kL2fA3rJJutGjXCz9So8JvkirNvzfYpKpDM-9l6ArrihW2w2c7w/s1600-h/Honduras+-+Walter+Trochez+sm.gif"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 205px; height: 261px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXFjptIOR7Cir2sJOwNOnZV3So2KgpOJ9Q8sT_1fYHHbfL6DQaDNpZynhyphenhyphenCcP8LZhjtqfniIHIcfp0Mk5vy38kL2fA3rJJutGjXCz9So8JvkirNvzfYpKpDM-9l6ArrihW2w2c7w/s320/Honduras+-+Walter+Trochez+sm.gif" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415204614359699442" /></a><b>Walter Orlando Tróchez</b>, a human rights advocate, member of the lesbian-gay-bisexual-transsexual community, and active member of the Resistance Front was assassinated with two shots the morning of December 14, just outside of Larach & Co. in the center of Tegucigalpa. On December 4 Tróchez had been kidnapped outside the "El Obelisco" Park in Comayaguela by four masked men who drove a gray pickup without plates (presumed to be DNIC). They hooded and beat him, and demanded information about resistance activities; Tróchez managed to escape and filed a formal complaint. <a href="http://quotha.net/node/629">More</a> from Adrienne Pine and <a href="http://hondurasresists.blogspot.com/2009/12/walter-trochez-active-member-of.html">Feminists in Resistance</a>, via Honduras Resists.<br /><br />There have been several attempted assassinations, and continued police sweeps of homes and offices in which resistance participants have been sought and many taken away. Most of those taken have resurfaced alive, but have been forced to move. Four activists who were taken from the Carrizal neighborhood of the capital on December 5 have not been seen since and are considered disappeared.<br /><br />Assistant Secretary Valenzuela now freely describes the current regime as a military coup, yet no one in the State Department at any level will acknowledge, much less condemn, these ongoing acts of terror. What a sickeningly familiar feeling.<br /><br /><i><b>Update:</b> 7:00 pm, 15 Jan 2010 - </i>Added another couple of entries to the <a href="http://alovelypromise.blogspot.com/2009/10/honduras-high-price-of-struggle.html">archive post</a>. The last month has seen a wave of murders, kidnapings, and disappearances of both resistance activists and ordinary Hondurans, as well as ongoing violence directed against farmworkers in Aguan by those trying to drive them off their land. A Garifuna radio station was torched. It's difficult to sort out the targeted political killings from the background violence, which is no doubt the point for some of the assassins involved.<br /><br /><i>[Images from <a href="http://hondurasresists.blogspot.com/2009/12/asesinato-de-defensor-de-derechos.html">Honduras Resists</a></i>]Nellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01969732734453586544noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19846531.post-34195826468548874922009-11-06T10:15:00.021-05:002009-12-08T13:02:58.822-05:00Honduras: elections a sick jokeThe coup regime has made a <a href="http://hondurascoup2009.blogspot.com/2009/11/disunity-government.html">mockery</a> of the agreement, the U.S. is playing along, and Bertha Oliva of COFADEH (Committee of the Families of the Disappeared/Detained, Honduras' largest human rights organization) has the appropriate <a href="http://quotha.net/node/529">response</a>:<br /><br /><blockquote>...[T]he United States government is silent while Hondurans are subjected to arbitrary arrest, the closure of independent media, police beatings, torture and even killings by security forces. ... And now the U.S. government says we can have free elections in less than three weeks. That is a sick joke.</blockquote><br />She was speaking in Washington yesterday, where she met with members of Congress.<br /><br />While Oliva was in DC, the State Department continued its months-long practice of issuing statements encouraging rightist intransigence and undercutting the pretense that this administration supports democracy. Undersecretary Thomas Shannon, who negotiated the agreement a week ago, <a href="http://www.kansascity.com/451/story/1548606.html">said</a> that the U.S. would recognize the November elections whether or not Zelaya was restored. Sen. Jim DeMint <a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/1318890.html">said</a> that Sec. Clinton told him the same thing, and expressed his satisfaction by releasing the long-standing holds he'd put on two nominations (Shannon as ambassador to Brazil and Arturo Valenzuela as his successor for Western Hemisphere Affairs). The closest State Dept. spokesman/punching bag Ian Kelly <a href="http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/dpb/2009/nov/131346.htm">came</a> to walking back the damage: "[W]e believe [Zelaya] should be restored to power. ... Let’s just see how it works out."<br /><br />How it's working out: Verification commission members Richard Lagos and Hilda Solis returned to their countries yesterday after barely 48 hours in Honduras. That's a mighty casual approach to implementation of a difficult agreement on a tight deadline. The coup-supporting leaders of the national congress are stalling on a vote on Zelaya's restitution. Micheletti has <a href="http://hondurascoup2009.blogspot.com/2009/11/disunity-government.html">named</a> a "unity government" headed by himself, with no nominations from Zelaya or from the Liberal or National parties -- apparently taking 'unity' in its sense of 'one'.<br /><br />Brazil and the ALBA governments aren't amused, reaffirming their refusal to recognize the result of elections without Zelaya's restoration as president. The resistance is at the <a href="http://hondurasoye.wordpress.com/2009/11/06/national-resistance-issues-midnight-deadline-no-zelaya-no-recognition-of-electoral-process-or-results/">point of no return</a> on rejecting the elections. Sec. Clinton has not had the courtesy to respond, in person or through intermediaries, to <a href="http://americasmexico.blogspot.com/2009/11/zelaya-asks-clinton-for-clarification.html">Pres. Zelaya's request</a> four days ago for a formal clarification of U.S. policy. Even the <a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/opinionla/la-ed-honduras5-2009nov05,0,64597.story"><i>LA Times</i></a> can see what's going on: <i>'A U.S.-brokered deal to return ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya to office is unraveling, and the Obama administration seems to be wavering'</i>. Conclusion:<br /><br /><blockquote>If the Obama administration chooses to recognize the election without Zelaya first being reinstated, it will find itself at odds with the rest of Latin America. That would be a setback for democracy and for the United States.</blockquote><br />When fascists like Jim DeMint are satisfied with your foreign policy, you're doing it wrong. <br /><br /><i><b>Update:</b> 3:15pm, 6 Nov - </i>The agreement is <a href="http://americasmexico.blogspot.com/2009/11/communique-from-president-manuel-zelaya.html">dead</a>. Zelaya retains his dignity and integrity; the coup-makers blew their chance to have their phony elections blessed. The crisis is bigger than ever now. Heckuva job, U.S. gov!<br /><br /><i><b>Update 2:</b> 10:20am, 9 Nov - </i>Another excellent <a href="http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=4431">video report</a> by Jesse Freeston of the Real News Network on the breakdown of the agreement, including footage of Shannon's damning remarks. Carlos Reyes has withdrawn his candidacy, and the Front reaffirms it's actively rejecting the elections regardless of what happens with Zelaya's restitution. There are talks to try to revive the agreement, but given the U.S. government's <a href="http://hondurascoup2009.blogspot.com/2009/11/state-department-view-of-unity.html">apparent</a> <a href="http://hondurascoup2009.blogspot.com/2009/11/more-from-ian-kelleys-daily-press.html">determination</a> to pretend that elections are a way out of the crisis, there's little basis for optimism. The agreement appears more than ever to have been a way out of Tom Shannon's personal crisis of having his ambassadorship held up, and to hell with the Honduran people. <br />.Nellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01969732734453586544noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19846531.post-59500380236607234802009-10-30T11:01:00.017-04:002009-10-31T15:30:38.419-04:00Honduras: figleaf restitution, not real democracy<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXy7Fl_igoakYSuasyBt1pg6CQ6S2jE-Fyof4jJLQXb8TVejWTkNLe2GoOUmPRonNRwI3AHr0FVdvmnDJiaQ-SZPp6jQcxefE_rLxndFJXQpaTJ-iGpdifGQ8O1FA9oCVz1YqtFQ/s1600-h/Honduras+-+beaten+29+Oct.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 197px; height: 211px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXy7Fl_igoakYSuasyBt1pg6CQ6S2jE-Fyof4jJLQXb8TVejWTkNLe2GoOUmPRonNRwI3AHr0FVdvmnDJiaQ-SZPp6jQcxefE_rLxndFJXQpaTJ-iGpdifGQ8O1FA9oCVz1YqtFQ/s320/Honduras+-+beaten+29+Oct.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398610870564503122" /></a>As <a href="http://alovelypromise.blogspot.com/2009/10/honduras-two-paths-diverge.html">expected</a>, an agreement has <a href="http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2009a/10/131078.htm">apparently</a> been reached for a last-minute, highly symbolic restoration of Zelaya to the presidency, now that the U.S. has involved itself directly. A comparison of the points reported in Honduran papers with Laura Carlsen's <a href="http://americasmexico.blogspot.com/2009/10/honduran-accords-hung-up-on-zelayas.html">October 15 summary</a> of agreements reached at that point shows that the only change is the crucial one, restitution -- dependent on a vote of Congress (as Zelaya's delegation proposed at the time).<br /><br />The only people at any level of the U.S. government who come out of this sorry episode with my respect are the members of Congress who pushed the administration to put more effective pressure on the coup regime and to explicitly condemn the dictatorship's violence. Their most recent <a href="http://quotha.net/node/507">letter to Pres. Obama</a>, sent just before the State Dept. delegation left for Honduras, contains two passages that are worth remembering:<br /><br /><blockquote>While the siege of the [Brazilian] Embassy is a serious violation of the Vienna Convention, more disturbing is the broad assault against the Honduran people unleashed by the coup regime.<br />...<br />Free and fair elections cannot take place under these conditions.<br /><br />Though we commend the administration for having strongly stated their support for the restoration of democracy in Honduras, we are concerned that neither you nor the Secretary of State has denounced these serious human rights abuses in a country where US influence could be decisive.<br /><br />It is now more urgent than ever to break this silence. It is critical that your Administration immediately clearly and unequivocally reject and denounce the repression by this illegitimate regime. We can say sincerely and without hyperbole that this action on your part will save lives.</blockquote><br />Obama and Clinton have not done so, and never will. Message received.<br /><br /><i><b>Update:</b> 7:45pm, 30 Oct - </i>The agreement has been signed, but its actual text is unlikely to become public for a while, so the coup regime is <a href="http://narcosphere.narconews.com/thefield/3567/reports-deal-honduras-are-premature">already</a> citing obstacles in it that are denied by the Zelaya delegation. There's going to be a difficult, tedious process of implementation; see <a href="http://hondurascoup2009.blogspot.com/2009/10/devil-in-details.html">RNS</a> and <a href="http://americasmexico.blogspot.com/2009/10/agreement-to-end-honduran-coup-marks.html">Laura Carlsen</a> for good overviews. <br /><br />So it may well be that Zelaya will not even be restored to office until just before the elections, the "last minute goal" alluded to by OAS snake John Biehl. Even in the best-case scenario, too much time has already been allowed to pass for anyone to feel obliged to respect the legitimacy of the upcoming elections -- presided over by an <a href="http://quotha.net/node/457">illegally constituted</a> election tribunal, who will now have nominal command of the murderous armed forces.<br /><br /><i><b>Update 2:</b> 3:25pm, 31 Oct - </i>The signed <a href="http://quotha.net/node/517">agreement is posted</a> as a PDF at Adrienne Pine's and as <a href="http://narcosphere.narconews.com/thefield/3567/reports-deal-honduras-are-premature#comment-32785">plain text</a> in a comment by El Cid at Al Giordano's. RAJ has an <a href="http://hondurascoup2009.blogspot.com/2009/10/tegucigalpa-san-jose-accord-translation.html">English</a> translation. The Honorable Raúl Grijalva does even more to earn that title by hosting a visit to Congress on November 5 by <a href="http://quotha.net/node/519">Berta Oliva of COFADEH</a>, the Committee of Families of the Disappeared and Detained. <br /><br /><i>[Image: Resistance participant beaten by police yesterday when they charged a peaceful demo with tear gas and batons, while the State Dept. delegation met with coup negotiators. <a href="http://hondurasresists.blogspot.com/2009/10/negotiation-is-in-streets-day-of.html">Honduras Resists</a>]</i><br />.Nellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01969732734453586544noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19846531.post-38191504451753558412009-10-20T14:20:00.016-04:002009-10-21T16:32:15.012-04:00Honduras: too late to pretend there's democracySince posting <a href="http://alovelypromise.blogspot.com/2009/10/honduras-high-price-of-struggle.html">'Honduras: high price of the struggle'</a> five days ago, I've had to add two more names to the list of those killed by the coup regime since Zelaya's return. I will continue to put any additional names there, so that the post can serve as a reference (and have added a link to the sidebar); pray that there will be no need.<br /><br />As the Obama-Clinton State Department worms its way toward recognizing elections held under conditions of dictatorship, remember these men and women. As firms like Chlopak, Leonard, Schechter and Associates take in hundreds of thousands of dollars for being willing to put a <a href="http://quotha.net/node/471">smooth facade of lies</a> on a brutal regime, remember their blood. Remember the courage and commitment for which they were targeted. Look into the eyes of Jairo Sánchez, whose funeral was yesterday; then make our government do the same.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB1J3X9osKDdOI8KIdAgAF_IvGw9Tpfh2kEYGM4Ebb6a-1yrFOCqLAKOqFdCdOMMi60UO7BmObkB1JKmRqGg2MOaSIxsR4LnyUmsdFgxRdS5VVwTjWoh8j1spr1mQofl9a3kWNGw/s1600-h/Honduras+Jairo+Sanchez.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 139px; height: 172px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB1J3X9osKDdOI8KIdAgAF_IvGw9Tpfh2kEYGM4Ebb6a-1yrFOCqLAKOqFdCdOMMi60UO7BmObkB1JKmRqGg2MOaSIxsR4LnyUmsdFgxRdS5VVwTjWoh8j1spr1mQofl9a3kWNGw/s320/Honduras+Jairo+Sanchez.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5394764126717218194" /></a><br />Nothing now can make the November elections any kind of exercise in democracy, whether Zelaya returns to office or not. Presidential candidate Cesar Ham and all the other Unification Democratica (UD) candidates <a href="http://voselsoberano.com/v1/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1555%3Apartido-hondureno-ud-se-retira-de-elecciones-por-considerarlas-inconstitucionales&catid=1%3Anoticias-generales&Itemid=1">have</a> <a href="http://voselsoberano.com/v1/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1546%3Acesar-ham-retira-candidatura-por-la-no-restitucion-del-presidente-zelaya&catid=1%3Anoticias-generales&Itemid=1<br />">withdrawn</a>. A hundred members of the social-democratic party PINU, including several of their candidates, have denounced their presidential candidate's support of the coup and will withdraw unless Zelaya is restored. Three weeks ago, 68 Liberal Party candidates announced their withdrawal en masse (Avi Lewis' acclaimed Al Jazeera <a href="http://hondurasoye.wordpress.com/2009/10/15/al-jazeera-video-honduras-the-resistance-and-the-political-elite">video</a> shows them taking the vote).<br /><br />The members of the national tribunal overseeing the elections, the TSE, were selected for their jobs in blatant violation of Honduras' election laws, which bar current elected officials from serving. That's just one of the many reasons why the upcoming elections can't possibly be made free and fair, and should receive no support or recognition, but it's a particularly relevant reason in light of their being <a href="http://quotha.net/node/457">invited to visit Congress</a> tomorrow by coup-supporting Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. Some administrations would deny visas for such a visit, given that the men are part of and support the coup government. This one <a href="http://hondurasoye.wordpress.com/2009/10/20/honduran-national-resistance-update-1020/">won't even rule out</a> meeting with them.<br /><br /><i><b>Update:</b> 1:30pm, 21 Oct - </i>If coup paper <i>La Tribuna</i> can be believed, some more coup functionaries had their <a href="http://hondurascoup2009.blogspot.com/2009/10/more-visa-revocations.html">U.S. visas revoked</a> yesterday -- too little, too late even if true (<strike>no announcement from</strike> now <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSN21494080">confirmed</a> by State). The lifting of the decree hasn't changed much for the police, who in addition to assassinating another resistance leader Monday morning used batons and live ammunition to break up a demonstration later in the day in El Progreso, home of Micheletti, and yesterday in San Pedro Sula, home of most of Honduras' industry. <br /><br />The resistance, and the campaign for a new constitution, is truly national. Getting back on its feet, Ch. 36 showed a big demo from a rural area yesterday [<i>via</i> <a href="http://phoenixwoman.wordpress.com/2009/10/20/honduras-coup-act-v-day-1/">Charles</a>]. The police and military are concentrated in the cities, and are going to be spread thin if, as appears to be the case, there has been a fair amount of local organizing since the National Front's convention in early September. On tap for today: a big caravan from towns to the west of Tegucigalpa, ending up in the capital. Tomorrow, a gathering in El Paraiso (near the Nicaraguan border). Friday morning, an assembly of popular candidates on the elections, to take place in the national headquarters of the union of the recently martyred Eucebio Fernandez. The OAS meeting going on now is broadcasting live <i>[via <a href="http://hondurasoye.wordpress.com/2009/10/21/honduran-national-resistance-update-1021/">Oye</a>]</i>, if you feel like sitting through hours of speeches to see how offensive Lew Amselem manages to be this time.<br /><br /><i>[Image: Union president Jairo Sánchez, two days after being shot in the head by police Sept. 23, just before the second of five operations. <a href="http://voselsoberano.com/v1/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1488%3Aasesinaron-a-jairo-sanchez-presidente-nacional-de-sitrainfop&catid=1%3Anoticias-generales&Itemid=1">Photo</a> by Mirian Huezo Emanuelsson.]</i><br />.Nellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01969732734453586544noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19846531.post-69704966935276205792009-10-17T13:28:00.021-04:002009-10-20T16:10:40.335-04:00Honduras: U.S. media failTim Padgett's writing for <i>Time</i> on Honduras has been significantly better than that of many U.S. reporters. But that's faint praise, and his latest <a href="http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1930835-1,00.html">piece</a> contains several seriously problematic passages.<br /><br /><blockquote>1. <i>Micheletti ... lifted many of his emergency decrees during a visit last week by U.S. Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen... But human-rights groups like Amnesty International say police and soldiers are still blocking street protests.</i></blockquote><br /><b>The decree has not been lifted.</b> A state of siege has been in effect since Sept. 26, when the decree suspending constitutional rights of assembly and free expression (issued on Sept. 22) was published in Honduras' federal register, <i>La Gaceta Oficial</i>. Decrees, and decrees repealing other decrees, take effect when published. The repeal has <a href="http://hondurascoup2009.blogspot.com/2009/10/still-not-rescinded-pcm-m-016-2009.html">not been published</a>. <i><b>Update:</b> 2:15pm, 19 Oct - </i>Repeal <a href="http://hondurascoup2009.blogspot.com/2009/10/pcm-m-016-2009-rescension-publlished.html">published</a> today. UN human rights team in for three-week investigative visit. <b><i>End update.</i></b><br /><br />No one should need Amnesty International reports to be able to tell that demonstrations continue to be broken up with force. Soldiers and police teargassed and beat demonstrators the day after the supposed "lifting" of the decree, the very day the OAS-mediated dialogue began, in full view of the international press, who <a href="http://alovelypromise.blogspot.com/2009/10/honduras-siege-continues-behind.html">reported</a> it. The police gave as the reason for the repression that the demonstrators were "violating the decree" (which, among other things, forbids public gatherings of more than 20 people). They repeated the performance two days later, again widely <a href="http://www.boston.com/news/world/latinamerica/articles/2009/10/09/more_talks_in_honduran_crisis_but_no_deal_sighted/">reported</a>: <i>Riot police shoot tear gas to disperse supporters of ousted Honduras' President Manuel Zelaya during a demonstration outside the hotel where representatives of Zelaya and Honduras' interim government are meeting in Tegucigalpa, Friday, Oct. 9, 2009.</i> [AP caption]<br /><br /><blockquote>2. <i>To their credit, the leading presidential candidates — Porfirio Lobo of the National Party and Elvin Santos of the Liberal Party — have contributed responsibly to resolving the crisis.</i></blockquote><br />As the front-runner in the elections, Lobo has the most to lose from their being discredited, so he did push back strongly against Micheletti's constitution-suspending decree -- once the international response made clear how lethal a threat it posed to the elections' acceptance. <br /><br />But I'm unaware of anything Santos has done to help resolve the crisis. Instead, on several occasions he's actively and violently intensified it: During his visit to the national university in August, when students jeered the candidate for his support of the coup, Santos' bodyguards <a href="http://quotha.net/node/191">fired their weapons and pistol-whipped one student</a>; the charming episode was YouTubed. A month later, his goons responded to demonstrators heckling a Santos campaign appearance in Choluteca by <a href="http://phoenixwoman.wordpress.com/2009/09/07/honduras-coup-act-iii-day-46/">attacking the protesters with <i>machetes</i></a>; this too was captured on video, broadcast on Ch. 36. As a result of his role in tearing apart the Liberal party, Santos was only polling a few points ahead of independent candidate Carlos Reyes in a late August <a href="http://narcosphere.narconews.com/thefield/3511/poll-wide-majority-hondurans-oppose-coup-d’etat-want-zelaya-back">national survey</a> by COIMER&OP (solid polling with other newsworthy results that is still unreported by any English-language news outlet other than the site that first made it available). <br /><br /><blockquote>3. <i>[Acting U.S. Ambassador to the OAS] Amselem, a holdover from the George W. Bush Administration, called Zelaya's surprise reappearance in Tegucigalpa "irresponsible and foolish."</i></blockquote><br />That he did, but he's not a 'holdover' in the sense of being a political appointee, and State Dept. spokesman Philip Crowley defended his comments as consistent with the administration's policy. While Amselem has throughout his career demonstrated the kind of <a href="http://machetera.wordpress.com/2009/09/29/the-sordid-history-of-lewis-amselem-deputy-u-s-permanent-representative-to-the-oas/">energetic support</a> of right-wing governments characteristic of Republican administrations, he's a career State functionary. He is <a href="http://phoenixwoman.wordpress.com/2009/09/29/lew-anselem-yet-another-bush-holdover-undermining-decency/#comment-33752">serving</a> as the acting OAS representative without Senate confirmation, at the pleasure of the Secretary of State. If Sec. Clinton wanted another State employee acting in that position until the new administration's pick is confirmed, it would happen. Speaking of that pick: Despite the declared intention to re-engage with the hemisphere, and despite the emergence in June of a crisis on which it was purportedly determined to work with and through the OAS, the Obama administration didn't even nominate its own OAS representative until <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Presidential-nominations-sent-to-the-Senate-9/15/09/">September 15</a>; I wouldn't bet on her being confirmed until sometime next year.<br /><br /><blockquote>4. <i>After setting up in the Brazilian embassy last month, [Zelaya] claimed Israeli mercenaries were trying to zap him and his entourage with high-frequency radiation.</i></blockquote><br />The source of this assertion, Frances Robles' Sept. 24 <i>Miami Herald</i> <a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/news/5min/v-fullstory/story/1248828.html">article</a>, was a hit piece intended to paint Zelaya as unhinged. The writer didn't repeat the president's actual words, just luridly characterized them -- and has <a href="http://narcosphere.narconews.com/thefield/3501/against-anti-semitism-right-left-or-media-induced">yet to produce</a> the quotes to back it up. But the damage is done; one commenter after another repeats her unsupported attribution as gospel. <br /><br />Moreover, the smear is repeated without even a nod to the context in which Zelaya spoke to Robles: a day after the coup regime had laid military siege to the Brazilian embassy. The regime cut the power, water, and phone service to the whole neighborhood. They filled the street with tear gas (some of which infiltrated the embassy). They set off the LRAD sonic cannon from the street outside, well within the 300 feet within which the manufacturer warns the device causes damage. The weapon is designed to flush out buildings and disperse crowds; use against people who are trapped in the path of the highly focused, 150-dB directed sound is torture. Soldiers ordered out the residents of houses on all sides of the embassy and occupied the buildings. The next day the regime inserted at least one phone-jamming device into the embassy and directed others at it from outside. Pro-coup Honduran media <a href="http://www.latribuna.hn/web2.0/?p=44108">reported</a> that the sonic cannon was supplied by the Israelis. <br /><br />A day after the Robles hit piece appeared, the regime subjected the embassy to chemical attacks and <a href="http://narcosphere.narconews.com/thefield/3460/honduran-coup-regime-mocks-un-security-council-embassy-attacks">renewed</a> the sonic blasting with the LRAD. More than a third of the 60 people inside the embassy had serious symptoms ranging from nosebleeds to respiratory irritation to vomiting blood, while medical personnel were prevented from entering the embassy for hours. That Manuel Zelaya -- what a craaazy guy.<br /><br />---<br />The main point of Padgett's article is that the State Department is considering supporting and recognizing the November elections even if Zelaya is not restored to office. Evidence for this includes a revealing email from "a high-level official in the U.S. OAS delegation" who is not Amselem, as well as signals new and old in State briefings that the U.S. is counting on the elections as an escape route. <br /><br />What puts Padgett on a slightly higher level than the run of U.S. reporters and commenters is that he does some actual reporting, treats anti-coup sources seriously, manages to write about Zelaya's presence in the Brazilian embassy without using the phrase 'holed up', and -- most significantly -- recognizes that the rest of the world isn't blind and that their opinion counts for something:<br /><blockquote><i>if Micheletti doesn't yield the presidency back to Zelaya by Nov. 29, whoever wins that day is likely to be a global pariah — a fact that perhaps the U.S. needs to come to terms with.</i></blockquote><br />Perhaps.<br />.Nellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01969732734453586544noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19846531.post-55338633550863793492009-10-16T17:03:00.007-04:002009-10-21T14:22:33.572-04:00Honduras: World Cup sweetness<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirRV9ApnczZkBsKYKMcqIFKop0ozhb7ZpBv5LIms0hexKzclgUYcerqRIHob_thJD_zE9d6S94i9TkI0aqzMofK2zu4TTimqiYCdFZNbRXPF5bb5bWmeD7GjK9_uoQu1X8l4MZiA/s1600-h/Honduras+-+World+Cup+jersey+captains+mom+Flor+and+Pichu.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 255px; height: 208px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirRV9ApnczZkBsKYKMcqIFKop0ozhb7ZpBv5LIms0hexKzclgUYcerqRIHob_thJD_zE9d6S94i9TkI0aqzMofK2zu4TTimqiYCdFZNbRXPF5bb5bWmeD7GjK9_uoQu1X8l4MZiA/s320/Honduras+-+World+Cup+jersey+captains+mom+Flor+and+Pichu.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5393309335785665250" /></a>Yesterday Micheletti had the World Cup qualifying football team in to the presidential house, trying to hog the national celebration. Team captain Amado Guevara, in a lovely gesture, <a href="http://www.tiempo.hn/home/5715-amado-guevara-le-envia-camiseta-de-la-seleccion-a-manuel-zelaya-rosales">sent</a> a jersey to Pres. Zelaya with a message of support. <br /><br />Above is his mom Flor presenting it to Zelaya's daughter Pichu.<br /><br /><i><b>Update:</b> 3:00pm, 17 Oct - </i>Bonus! Adrienne Pine's friend Oscar <a href="http://quotha.net/node/465">reports</a> that Amado Guevara declined to receive his medal from the dictators at the ceremony Micheletti arranged. <i><b>Update:</b> 2:30pm, 21 Oct - </i>Or maybe not; see comments.<br />.Nellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01969732734453586544noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19846531.post-58913546502500391082009-10-16T13:25:00.014-04:002009-10-16T16:27:14.405-04:00Honduras: two paths diverge<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimWUGeZFjLs4IURFPOY9lWmi241_9XXlIIED_NiQSM6ETj91bYwEN_bEFdgC-41pGKd9b4CnSzNifN4ovG8M1NpF736GrFUEgY_eupoZHEXIcvE4RtpTEVxIThpHyp85Ve4fhRMw/s1600-h/Honduras+consituyente+ya.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 121px; height: 74px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimWUGeZFjLs4IURFPOY9lWmi241_9XXlIIED_NiQSM6ETj91bYwEN_bEFdgC-41pGKd9b4CnSzNifN4ovG8M1NpF736GrFUEgY_eupoZHEXIcvE4RtpTEVxIThpHyp85Ve4fhRMw/s320/Honduras+consituyente+ya.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5393296612067207394" /></a>Via <a href="http://hibueras.blogspot.com/2009/10/las-10-30-una-cita-con-la-historia.html">Hibueras</a>, Zelaya early this morning called on the popular movement to assemble at 10:30am to demonstrate for his restitution, saying that it could come within hours. <a href="http://americasmexico.blogspot.com/2009/10/honduran-accords-hung-up-on-zelayas.html">Laura Carlsen</a> provides the best account of what's been agreed to in negotiations up to this point.<br /><br />But it's too late for any agreement to legitimize the elections. The regime, and the U.S., blew off that deadline. They're fine with symbolic restoration, a point of view <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601086&sid=aMN4AC2tnZmg">expressed</a> by the snake-in-the-grass OAS envoy John Biehl, who <i>said he’s confident the country will resolve its political crisis before election day. "Some goals are scored in the final minute."</i> (Cute. Honduras qualified for the World Cup yesterday and everyone, including <a href="http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-10/16/content_12243603.htm">Zelaya</a>, is celebrating.)<br /><br />Israel Salinas made <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2009/10/16/world/international-us-honduras.html">clear</a> this morning that only immediate and full restoration today could bind the resistance to the elections. It's not going to happen.<br /><br />As Zelaya said in the Al Jazeera video (you <i>have</i> <a href="http://hondurasoye.wordpress.com/2009/10/15/al-jazeera-video-honduras-the-resistance-and-the-political-elite">watched</a> it, haven't you?), there's a two-stage process. One stage is reversing the coup -- restoring formal democracy. The other is the longer, larger struggle to democratize the country. The two efforts were fused up until now, but the popular movement can't let its hands be tied by negotiations in which it's not taking part.<br /><br />The ALBA countries are meeting today to consider new sanctions against the coup regime. No hint of anything similar from the U.S. government; apparently even formal democracy's too much trouble to defend. Ben Fox of AP brings home the effect of the ho-hum U.S. approach on the Honduran people, detailing the intense <a href="http://www.philly.com/inquirer/world_us/20091016_Political_chaos__economic_pain.html">economic pain</a> caused by the drawn-out crisis.<br /><br />Oh, and a special brass balls award to others in the brain-dead media, who are <i>still</i>, three and a half months on, propagating the zombie lie:<br /><br /><blockquote><i>A wealthy rancher who moved to the left after taking office, Zelaya angered conservatives by building close ties to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and toying with <b>a reform of the constitution to change term limits for presidents</b>.</i> [Reuters, no byline]</blockquote><br />Gosh, it must be true; they keep saying it.Nellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01969732734453586544noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19846531.post-73517627615235000172009-10-15T13:03:00.046-04:002024-02-16T11:20:51.611-05:00Honduras: high price of the struggle<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjusAK_S9sy9EK2xPV99gf7TjPFj_9OpYtAxmf3Ep0b67P0W6_kgACH-1fJDt952F8V_5sumD8dzrh2nut65GfO0h5HbNzzN6tMw7a2gI9XOeb91LK0D6OUIpYDXDTSEXp_aYl_6g/s1600-h/Elvis+Euciado.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 237px; height: 223px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjusAK_S9sy9EK2xPV99gf7TjPFj_9OpYtAxmf3Ep0b67P0W6_kgACH-1fJDt952F8V_5sumD8dzrh2nut65GfO0h5HbNzzN6tMw7a2gI9XOeb91LK0D6OUIpYDXDTSEXp_aYl_6g/s320/Elvis+Euciado.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5392902988986973106" /></a>As the hours tick down on the last chance for restoration of the Zelaya government that could provide a fig-leaf of legitimacy for the November 29 elections, the price being paid by those resisting the coup is getting more, much-needed attention. <br /><br />A recent <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSN12151282">Reuters story</a> by Frank Jack Daniel, 'Honduran abuses rampant after coup', reinforces the <i>NY Times</i> account mentioned in a <a href="http://alovelypromise.blogspot.com/2009/10/honduras.html">previous post</a>:<br /><blockquote><i>Suspicious deaths. Beatings. Random police shootings. Life under the de facto government of Honduras at times feels uncannily like Latin America's dark past of military rule.</i>. </blockquote><br />Via <a href="http://hondurasoye.wordpress.com/2009/10/15/al-jazeera-video-honduras-the-resistance-and-the-political-elite/">Honduras Oye</a>, an outstanding <i>Al Jazeera</i> video episode makes the point even more vividly. (The interviewer's penetrating questions to all parties are also a startling reminder of how rare real journalism is these days.)<br /><br /><i><b>Update:</b> 2:15pm, 16 Oct - </i><a href="http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/10/16/honduras-stop-blocking-human-rights-inquiries">Human Rights Watch</a> weighs in, urging the international community to back human rights prosecutors in the Attorney General's office, whose efforts to investigate military and police killings and abuse have been obstructed and threatened by the coup regime and the military. "If anyone questions the damage that the de facto government has done to Honduras’ democratic institutions it’s clearly illustrated by these cases ... by obstructing the investigations, the public security forces are thumbing their noses at the rule of law." HRW also urged support for overturning Micheletti's illegal decree and opposed amnesty for human rights violations as part of any agreement. <b><i>End update.</i></b><br /><br /><i><b>Update 2:</b> 4:00pm, 16 Oct - </i>Excellent: <i>"The <a href="http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=32582&Cr=honduras&Cr1=<br />">United Nations</a> human rights chief is sending a team to Honduras on Sunday for a three-week official visit to examine violations of rights in the wake of the coup d’état in the Central American country in June."</i> Not so excellent is that the report is expected to be delivered by ...<i>next March</i>?!. <b><i>End update 2.</i></b><br /><br />The death toll since Zelaya's return is high. Below are just some of the victims, those for whom I have information [links provided for those not mentioned in previous posts]. In the same period there have been more than a few young men taken away in nighttime sweeps of neighborhoods whose whereabouts are unknown or whose bodies have not been identified. <br /><br /><blockquote><i><b>Update 4:</b> 2:00pm, 15 Jan 2010 - </i>Additions:<br /><br /><b>Edwin Renán Fajardo Argueta</b>, 22, a member of Artists in Resistance, was found <a href="http://hondurasresists.blogspot.com/2009/12/another-young-member-of-resistance.html">strangled</a> to death in his apartment in Tegucigalpa on Dec. 23. He had received death threats before his murder.<br /><br /><b>Carlos Turcios</b>, vice-president of the Choloma chapter of the Resistance Front, was <a href="http://hibueras.blogspot.com/2009/12/se-busca-carlos-roberto-turcios-codeh.html">kidnapped</a> <i>[Sp.]</i> near his home on the afternoon of Dec. 16. He was found dead the next day in Baracoa, Cortes, with hands and head cut off. There is a <a href="http://consuladohondurasmontreal.blogspot.com/2009/12/ultima-hora-continuan-buscando-carlos.html">report</a> that the body was not Turcios', so he may be considered disappeared. <i><b>End Update 4.</b></i><br /><br /><i><b>Update 3:</b> 3:40pm, 14 Dec - </i>Additions:<br /><br /><b>Walter Tróchez</b>, a human rights advocate, member of the lesbian-gay-bisexual-transsexual community, and active member of the Resistance Front was assassinated December 14 with two shots just outside of Larach & Co. in the center of Tegucigalpa. On December 4 Tróchez had been kidnapped outside the "El Obelisco" Park in Comayaguela by four hooded men who drove a gray pickup without plates (presumed to be DNIC). They hooded and beat him, and demanded information about resistance activities; Tróchez managed to escape and filed a formal complaint. <a href="http://quotha.net/node/629">More</a> from Adrienne Pine.<br /><br /><b>Santos Corrales García</b> was <a href="http://hibueras.blogspot.com/2009/12/santos-corrales-garcia-presente.html">found dead</a> <i>[Sp.]</i> on Thursday, December 10, near Talanga (50 km east of Tegucigalpa). His body was headless. On December 5 Corrales had been taken away with four others from the Nueva Capital neighborhood of Tegucigalpa by five men dressed in uniforms of the national criminal investigation directorate (DNIC). He was tortured and interrogated about the location of a businesswoman who provided supplies to the resistance during demonstrations. The two men and two women who were taken with Corrales were transported, tied hand and foot, dumped at highway exits far from home and told not to return to their neighborhoods.<br /><br /><b>Isaac Coello</b>, 24; <b>Roger Reyes</b>, 22; <b>Kenneth Rosa</b>, 23; <b>Gabriel Parrales</b>; and <b>Marco Vinicio Matute</b>, 39. The five men, active in the resistance from the Victor F. Ardon and Honduras neighborhoods of Tegucigalpa, were <a href="http://www.defensoresenlinea.com/cms/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=554:hombres-vestidos-de-militares-y-policias-asesinan-a-cinco-jovenes-de-la-resistencia&catid=42:seg-y-jus&Itemid=159">massacred</a> <i>[Sp.]</i> on December 7 by men in military and police uniforms. A young woman working with them was also shot, but not fatally; she survived by pretending to be dead.<br /><br /><b>Luis Gradis Espinal</b>, a teacher from the department of Valle, was <a href="http://hondurasresists.blogspot.com/2009/11/day-159-of-resistance-despite-state.html">found dead</a> on Wednesday, November 25 in Las Casitas neighborhood in western Tegucigalpa. He was tied and had been executed. His family reported him disappeared when he didn't return after having left for the capital on Sunday, Nov. 22. During the weeks before the election (and after) there were dozens of police search and captures for resistance participants. <i><b>End Update 3.</b></i><br /><br /><strong>Eucebio Fernández Suárez</strong>, director of the Mateo School in Macuelizo, Santa Barbara, union leader, constant participant in resistance actions, and candidate for vice-mayor, was <a href="http://voselsoberano.com/v1/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1535:asesinan-a-otro-maestro-en-macuelizo&catid=1:noticias-generales">shot</a> Oct. 19 at 7:10am at the Macuelizo exit of the Virrey highway. <i>[Added 3:00pm, 19 Oct. Name <a href="http://hablahonduras.com/2009/10/20/policia-asesina-profesor/">corrected</a> 9:15pm, 20 Oct.]</i><br /><br /><strong>Jairo Ludin Sánchez</strong>, president of the union of workers at the National Institute for Professional Formation, died Oct. 17 in hospital. He had been in critical condition since being <a href="http://chiapas.indymedia.org/article_169365">shot</a> in the head by a policeman while taking part in a demonstration on the afternoon of Sept. 23 in his neighborhood near Morazan Boulevard in Tegucigalpa. Details. <i>[Added 2:00 am, 18 Oct. More <a href="http://voselsoberano.com/v1/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1528:un-testigo-y-filmacion-clave-en-la-investigacion-contra-el-asesino-del-lider-sindicalista-jairo-sanchez-audio&catid=1:noticias-generales">details</a> 3:15pm, 19 Oct.]</i><br /><br /><strong>Olga Osiris Uclés</strong>, 35, died Oct. 4 from effects of the tear gas police used against demonstrators at Radio Globo on September 30. She lived in the La Joya neighborhood of Tegucigalpa, and leaves four children. <br /><br /><strong>Mario Fidel Contreras</strong>, a teacher and vice-principal at Instituto Abelardo R. Fortín, was <a href="http://insidecostarica.com/dailynews/2009/october/04/centralamerica-091004-01.htm">shot</a> twice in the head on Oct. 2 by a man on a motorcycle near his home in the San Angel neighborhood of Tegucigalpa.<br /><br /><strong>Antonio Leiva</strong>, a Lenca campesino and resistance leader, who had disappeared some days before, and had been detained previously by security forces, was found dead on Oct. 3 with signs of torture in Canculuncus, a village in Santa Barbara.<br /><br /><strong>Marco Antonio Canales Villatoro</strong>, 40, was <a href="http://www.laht.com/article.asp?CategoryId=23558&ArticleId=344517#">shot</a> on Sept. 26 by two men on a motorcycle as he was leaving an evangelical church in Tegucigalpa. He was a PINU candidate for suplente (alternate legislator) for Francisco Morazan department, and the nephew of the owner of Radio Globo, Alejandro Villatoro. <br /><br /><strong>Wendy Elizabeth Avila</strong>, 24, law student. A resistance activist non-stop since the coup, she died on Sept. 26 from the effects of tear gas used against people in the street in front of the Brazilian embassy on Sept. 22.<br /><br /><strong>Elvis Euciado</strong>, a teenager, was riding his bike toward a neighborhood soccer field on Sept. 23 when he yelled 'golpistas' at a police patrol 200 feet away. The patrol stopped; one policeman got out and <a href="http://www.tiempo.hn/secciones/sucesos/4287-policia-mata-a-muchacho-que-les-grito-golpistas">shot</a> him dead on the spot. [The policeman's since been charged with murder, the sole exception to impunity among these cases.]<br /><br /><strong>Francisco Alvarado</strong>, 65, was <a href="http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wamc/news.newsmain/article/0/0/1557785/World.News/Honduras.clash.kills.one..world.pressure.rises">shot</a> with an M-16 while going out for food on the evening of Sept. 22 (more than 24 hours into a continuous curfew) in the Flor del Campo neighborhood of Tegucigalpa.<br /><br /><strong>Oscar Adán Palacios</strong> was <a href="http://hondurascoup2009.blogspot.com/2009/09/shot-to-death.html">shot</a> to death by the military in the Victor F. Ardon neighborhood of Tegucigalpa on the afternoon of Sept. 22 (just short of 24 hours into the curfew).<br /><br /><strong>Felix Murillo</strong> was <a href="http://hibueras.blogspot.com/2009/09/asesinan-testigo-de-la-muerte-de-roger.html">found dead</a> <strike>with signs of torture</strike> after <a href="http://quotha.net/node/318">apparently</a> being hit by a vehicle in Talanga, Francisco Morazan department (near Tegucigalpa) on Sept. 20, the day before Zelaya reappeared in the capital. His body entered the morgue at the Escuela hospital as an unknown. He was a resistance activist and witness in the case of the death of Roger Vallejo, a fellow-teacher shot to death while taking part in a demonstration on July 30.</blockquote><br />Whatever happens by the end of today, the next phase has begun: fighting for a national assembly to write a new constitution. These and all the martyrs of the resistance to the coup since June 28 will be present in the struggle. <i>¡Presente!</i><br /><br /><i>[Image: The body of Elvis Euciado, from newspaper Tiempo]</i><br />.Nellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01969732734453586544noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19846531.post-46331008110342175312009-10-09T10:05:00.002-04:002009-10-09T10:12:02.971-04:00Schmeace Prize<a href="http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/10/president-obama-wins-nobel-peace-prize.php?ref=fpban">This</a> would make a sick joke of the Nobel Peace prize, if the committee hadn't already done so long ago by awarding one to Henry Kissinger and Le Duc Tho (who at least had the decency to refuse it).Nellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01969732734453586544noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19846531.post-2313048957489080512009-10-08T13:45:00.009-04:002009-10-09T10:24:18.217-04:00Honduras: farmworkers freed, Micheletti meltdown<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoTvKRsSlmNDM-fifmO8lXWXa2FWFGxXSfNLvYY7op1bGWTpQSY1KCtTkz7uA1dpqrnmdVPxIBUaClhCJ-ltLH9vjZZi6L6NS6DX7MrgSRAEFquR7v5kmjSRqLkffPHPEp4f1hzA/s1600-h/Honduras+-+INA+campesinos.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 125px; height: 126px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoTvKRsSlmNDM-fifmO8lXWXa2FWFGxXSfNLvYY7op1bGWTpQSY1KCtTkz7uA1dpqrnmdVPxIBUaClhCJ-ltLH9vjZZi6L6NS6DX7MrgSRAEFquR7v5kmjSRqLkffPHPEp4f1hzA/s320/Honduras+-+INA+campesinos.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5390321057833478562" /></a>Good news (if accurate; will post another source when I find it): The farmworkers imprisoned for their long occupation of the National Agrarian Institute have been <a href="http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90777/90852/6777407.html">released</a>. The down side is that they'll supposedly be subject to house arrest. That sounds sinister, but how easy or likely is it to be enforced against several dozen farmworkers scattered around the country in remote rural locations? <br /><br />What this account doesn't note is that the campesinos <a href="http://alovelypromise.blogspot.com/2009/09/honduras-siege-continues-behind.html">driven</a> forcibly from the Institute a week ago had been held together in a single cell, and had launched a <a href="http://hondurasresists.blogspot.com/2009/10/peasant-political-prisoners-declare.html">hunger strike</a>. Their release is a small but real victory won by their own struggle.<br /><br />Not good news, but not a real surprise: Micheletti continues to be intransigent. Speaking to the press last night after the "dialogue" had ended for the day, he went into a <a href="http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1929134,00.html">tirade</a> against the OAS delegation [<i><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGkC7mxzSR8">video</a></i>, via Doug Zylstra in comments at RAJ's]. No one from this government seems inclined to say a word about the continuing illegal state of siege, or to do anything else that might provide a reality check for the coup crew.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCFYrHjl8_7Pt79ZT6Hv9tHoW926PrE52E1FfjC5A3S04f-jQ-ii63oQIOcOSevi9mBh1jMxi6Gt5roXnlnsliKhhm1gK0co8svnPHsjopMS-XJT90II0urN0FBVcztL90GgmYEQ/s1600-h/Honduras+-+COPINH+asylum+Guate.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 169px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCFYrHjl8_7Pt79ZT6Hv9tHoW926PrE52E1FfjC5A3S04f-jQ-ii63oQIOcOSevi9mBh1jMxi6Gt5roXnlnsliKhhm1gK0co8svnPHsjopMS-XJT90II0urN0FBVcztL90GgmYEQ/s320/Honduras+-+COPINH+asylum+Guate.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5390319732695362562" /></a><i><b>Update:</b> 3:50pm, 8 Oct - </i>Over the weekend the body of a Lenca resistance leader, Antonio Leiva, was found in a village in Santa Barbara province, murdered and with signs of torture. He had disappeared earlier. Yesterday twelve men, women and children from the indigenous organization COPINH sought and were granted <a href="http://hondurasresists.blogspot.com/2009/10/12-members-of-indigenous-organization.html">political asylum in the Guatemalan embassy</a>. They denounced the wave of repression happening under the state of siege, directed especially at ethnic minorities who participate in the resistance. The Guatemalan foreign ministry put out a statement announcing that the group was being granted asylum and demanding that the coup government respect human rights and stop acts of repression against its citizens.<br />.Nellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01969732734453586544noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19846531.post-8484591823303596922009-10-07T16:38:00.012-04:002009-10-15T15:38:55.287-04:00Honduras: majority supports Zelaya, siege goes onOn one hand, the <a href="http://tiempo.hn/secciones/crisis-politica/5146--policias-reprimen-a-simpatizantes-de-zelaya-cerca-de-la-embajada-de-brasil">news</a> <i>[Sp.]</i> is the same as it's been for a while:<br /><br /><blockquote>Today Honduran soldiers and police repressed supporters of deposed president Manuel Zelaya in front of the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa, at the moment that a dialogue was beginning in search of a solution to the political crisis.<br /><br />Some 150 demonstrators chanted <i>Mel, hold on; the people are rising up</i> and <i>Mel, friend: the people are with you</i> as they gathered near the embassy. Lines of police protected with shields and wielding batons threw tear gas grenades and dispersed the demonstrators, who ran into other streets. <br /><br />The demonstrators "were violating the decree" that restricts constitutional liberties and "were violating the rights of others" to free circulation, said Captain Daniel Molina, head of the police detachment, to local media. Tegucigalpa is virtually militarized today as the dialogue begins between representatives of Zelaya and de facto president Roberto Micheletti, supervised by the Organization of American States.</blockquote><br />So Micheletti's illegal decree continues to be enforced, there's still no formal publication of repeal, and the capital is in virtual lockdown. What an excellent climate for dialogue and negotiations. And what a mood it sets for the World Cup qualifying game versus the U.S. in San Pedro Sula on Saturday; dictatorship's no obstacle to a good football match, eh, FIFA?<br /><br />On the other hand, the resistance demonstrators' chant that <a href="http://narcosphere.narconews.com/thefield/3511/poll-wide-majority-hondurans-oppose-coup-d’etat-want-zelaya-back">the people are with President Zelaya</a> is now solidly grounded in polling data. An opinion research company chosen by Honduras' election tribunal to do official election polling conducted a large-sample nationwide survey just over a month ago; the results and all the internals were obtained and posted by <a href="http://narcosphere.narconews.com/thefield/3511/poll-wide-majority-hondurans-oppose-coup-d’etat-want-zelaya-back">Al Giordano</a>. Go read; the results are encouraging, though they shouldn't surprise anyone but those who've drunk the coup-makers' Kool-Aid. <i>[4:05pm, 8 Oct - Paragraph rewritten for accuracy.]</i><br /><br />Zelaya says there's no chance for elections November 29 unless he's restored to office by October 15. At least 68 Liberal Party congressional and mayoral candidates from eleven different departments <a href="http://www.tiempo.hn/secciones/politica/4900-candidatos-en-resistencia-amenazan-con-no-participar">announced</a> <i>[Sp.]</i> late last week that they'll withdraw from the race <i>en masse</i> unless Zelaya and the constitutional order are restored. The poll mentioned above shows Liberal Party presidential candidate Elvin Santos only a few points ahead of independent resistance candidate Carlos Reyes (though Reyes, naturally enough, draws a much larger proportion of "unknown/no opinion" responses).<br /><br />The U.S. government uses the excuse of "delicate negotiations" to avoid applying any further pressure to Micheletti, Gen. Vasquez, and their paymasters. But the dictators are giving the finger to the world with their continuing state of siege. Tell Sec. Clinton to declare a military coup, and let her know about the poll results: Supporting full restoration of Zelaya's government is the right thing to do <i>and</i> good politics.<br />.Nellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01969732734453586544noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19846531.post-60021824582560916782009-10-06T21:12:00.013-04:002009-10-07T10:52:30.964-04:00Honduras: human rights violations actually news<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoFVjHumOtM7pXqOZJ1o1c5dU3KCv3L3eiUnR9zJ1O7_d4bIIIek06uhNNjPLQPg1la6DPtLweHJdGFTEDwaX5jQHImzoXrzCb1lBvSvd6Rlb7I0XjuwxrBbVq7vbLNY9Bx6civQ/s1600-h/Honduras+-+beaten+at+Mercado+Belen+30+July+sm+2.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 81px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoFVjHumOtM7pXqOZJ1o1c5dU3KCv3L3eiUnR9zJ1O7_d4bIIIek06uhNNjPLQPg1la6DPtLweHJdGFTEDwaX5jQHImzoXrzCb1lBvSvd6Rlb7I0XjuwxrBbVq7vbLNY9Bx6civQ/s320/Honduras+-+beaten+at+Mercado+Belen+30+July+sm+2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389673999019866098" /></a>At long last, after 100 days, a major media outlet takes a straightforward look at the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/06/world/americas/06honduras.html">violence of the coup regime</a>. Elisabeth Malkin talked with survivors and with the human rights groups, and "balances" with only a touch of coup propaganda. <br /><br />The militarized police direct their weapons against not just those who demonstrate against the coup regime, but those who might:<br /><br /><blockquote>Since Mr. Zelaya’s return, security forces also have been rumbling through poor neighborhoods that are the base of his support. “They are going into neighborhoods in a way to intimidate people,” said Mr. Acevedo, the lawyer. In that time, the center has documented an increasing level of violence. Investigators have seen more than two dozen people with bullet wounds in hospitals, and some detainees have had their hands broken and have been burned with cigarettes, he said.<br /><br />While the police and soldiers are looking for the activists who have been organizing resistance, the sweep seems to pick up anyone who gets in their way. <br /><br />Yulian Lobo said her husband was arrested in the neighborhood of Villa Olímpica and accused of having a grenade. “It came out of nowhere,” she said, adding that her husband, a driver, had not been to pro-Zelaya marches.</blockquote><br />A most welcome development in <i>New York Times</i> reporting. Of course, nobody's perfect:<br /><br /><blockquote>...Mr. Micheletti lifted the decree [suspending constitutional rights] Monday.</blockquote><br /><a href="http://hondurascoup2009.blogspot.com/2009/10/micheletti-fails-to-publish-recension.html">Not so fast.</a> The repeal supposedly doesn't take effect until published in Honduras' federal register, <i>La Gaceta</i>. As of the end of today, still no publication.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdAcS2Odu37n8QcbFwvsVoMjccp8ugK3yhEK3pQZtl_PEPbDgzIOBznxqXwTZJjnfhwGmZZjiQ25CkLgpI7AlttIJ0p22-9zD7rKdMRMc9A-_msDT_5WBN_okSJWgLcnkBR1D6nA/s1600-h/Honduras+-+Olga+Osiris+Ucles.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 114px; height: 168px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdAcS2Odu37n8QcbFwvsVoMjccp8ugK3yhEK3pQZtl_PEPbDgzIOBznxqXwTZJjnfhwGmZZjiQ25CkLgpI7AlttIJ0p22-9zD7rKdMRMc9A-_msDT_5WBN_okSJWgLcnkBR1D6nA/s320/Honduras+-+Olga+Osiris+Ucles.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389681183001372274" /></a><i><b>Update:</b> 10:30 pm, 6 October - </i>Olga Osiris Uclés <a href="http://honduraslaboral.org/leer.php/6105746">died</a> <i>[Sp.]</i> yesterday from effects of the tear gas police used against demonstrators at Radio Globo on September 30. <i>Via</i> <a href="http://phoenixwoman.wordpress.com/2009/10/05/honduras-coup-act-iv-day-15/">Charles</a>.<br /><br /><br /><i>[Image at top: boy beaten by police at demonstration at the Mercado Belen in Tegucigalpa, 30 July. Photo from Via Campesina.]</i>Nellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01969732734453586544noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19846531.post-42506362201807236462009-10-02T10:14:00.006-04:002009-10-04T17:56:14.030-04:00Mercedes Sosa<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2Q5ngoUdNRTPteifuEzzR5r4mLVAaavMCEZwm9Y3w6lHyZWgd5PiAupBU7MsafsPSPafhizcl6UEoYHCUVJWCqh0WCc9RlQWxQY7rwV9xX205QDsm2QHePp0x4P__y4SlrfXg1g/s1600-h/Mercedes+Sosa.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 135px; height: 101px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2Q5ngoUdNRTPteifuEzzR5r4mLVAaavMCEZwm9Y3w6lHyZWgd5PiAupBU7MsafsPSPafhizcl6UEoYHCUVJWCqh0WCc9RlQWxQY7rwV9xX205QDsm2QHePp0x4P__y4SlrfXg1g/s320/Mercedes+Sosa.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388865743163973634" /></a>Via Otto at <a href="http://incakolanews.blogspot.com/2009/10/mercedes-sosa-get-well-soon.html">IncaKolaNews</a>, the sad news that Mercedes Sosa is in critical condition. Listen to her <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlVB9erD-Vw">here</a> with Leon Gieco and reflect some of that warmth and strength back to her now.<br /><br /><i><b>Update:</b> 6:00pm, 4 October - </i>She's gone. As a commenter at this clip said: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyOJ-A5iv5I"><i>Gracias a la vida</a> ... que nos dio la oportunidad de escucharte.</i> (Thanks to life ... that gave us the chance to listen to you.)<br />.Nellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01969732734453586544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19846531.post-68361958678345223102009-09-30T15:42:00.014-04:002009-10-02T02:04:09.477-04:00Honduras: siege goes on behind coupmakers' theater of dissent<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8WGwK8I1t3lrHB2eAB0cyQToLKXKcms7nzZKIVirruJLTTzdL-nd_WBzxqlPbZDgQGmRkXu3lKtYfM_g3Mbo0FQepBKfexhf82F8YzXNOpBJoWhRElIIUynLVUrJdWI2-_kvW5w/s1600-h/Honduras+-+30+Sept+day+95+riot+cops+INA.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 160px; height: 107px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8WGwK8I1t3lrHB2eAB0cyQToLKXKcms7nzZKIVirruJLTTzdL-nd_WBzxqlPbZDgQGmRkXu3lKtYfM_g3Mbo0FQepBKfexhf82F8YzXNOpBJoWhRElIIUynLVUrJdWI2-_kvW5w/s320/Honduras+-+30+Sept+day+95+riot+cops+INA.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5387877950577508594" /></a>This morning at dawn, hundreds of riot police surrounded and invaded the National Agrarian Institute, <a href="http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,26149831-23109,00.html">arresting</a> at least 50 farmworkers who had been occupying the building since the coup. The campesinos acted to prevent the coup regime from destroying or altering land titles that were in the process of being registered as part of land reform under the Zelaya administration.<br /><br />Today's arrests are just the latest brutal crackdown under Micheletti's <a href="http://narcosphere.narconews.com/thefield/3465/honduras-coup-leader-micheletti-decrees-45-day-suspension-constitution">decree</a> suspending the constitution for 45 days -- the one he issued in secret on September 22 but didn't publish in the government register until September 26, over the names of 16 functionaries of his usurper cabinet. When reaction to the decree began to sink in, further shredding the already tattered legitimacy of the widely unrecognized elections, even some of the coup backers distanced themselves. Micheletti, wanting to appear to respond and to spread the responsibility around to his co-conspirators, promised to repeal the coup "as soon as possible", pretending that doing so would require action by the Supreme Court and Congress. That's transparent b.s.: he could repeal the decree by the simple act of issuing another to cancel it.<br /><br />It's a perfect theatrical setup for the coupmongers: Headlines give the dictatorship credit for <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/29/world/americas/29honduras.html">"relenting"</a>, rightist presidential candidate Porfirio Lobo gets international credit for opposing the antidemocratic decree, but the actual state of siege remains in effect as a cover for not only Monday's military shutdowns of Radio Globo and Channel 36 television, but threatened shutdowns of <a href="http://hondurascoup2009.blogspot.com/2009/09/more-media-threatened.html">radio stations in Choluteca and Valle</a>, the removal and arrest of the farmworkers, and assaults on whatever other targets remain on the <i>golpistas'</i> hit list.<br /><br />And we enter the fourth month of the coup. Barack Obama was one of only two presidents in the hemisphere to make no mention of Honduras in his address to the UN. Thanks so much for all the change, Mr. President.<br /><br /><i><b>Update:</b> 1:15 pm, 1 Oct - </i>Even Ramon Custodio gets a <a href="http://hondurascoup2009.blogspot.com/2009/10/roberto-micheletti-says-he-needs-to.html">role</a> in the theater of dissent, though apparently the script he picked up was not that of the nation's human rights ombudsman. He wants the decree suspending the constitution repealed not because it deprives people of their rights of free assembly and free expression, but because issuing the decree "is to accept that we are no longer able to maintain public order, peace, and is a tacit acceptance which does not reflect the situation in which we are living." Okaaay then... <br /><br />The illegal decree continues in force, now in its second week. For the first time since the coup, the riot police actually completely <a href="http://quotha.net/node/424">prevented</a> the resistance from conducting a march in the capital. Looks like a military dictatorship from here. The people <a href="http://phoenixwoman.wordpress.com/2009/09/30/honduras-coup-act-iv-day-10/">responded</a> last night by holding a pot-banging, horn-blowing show of support for Zelaya in the area around the Brazilian embassy. Take your hands off your ears, Sec. Clinton.<br /><br /><i><b>Update 2:</b> 4:15 pm, 1 Oct - </i>Stories running next to each other in <i>Tiempo</i>: The election tribunal <a href="http://www.tiempo.hn/secciones/crisis-politica/4778-tse-solicita-no-arriesgar-credibilidad-de-elecciones">wants</a> the decree repealed immediately because it puts the credibility of the elections at risk. The state prosecutor promises the election tribunal he'll <a href="http://www.tiempo.hn/secciones/crisis-politica/4777-carcel-para-quienes-boicoteen-elecciones-fiscal-general">send to jail</a> anyone who boycotts or advocates against participation in the elections. Carlos Reyes <a href="http://www.tiempo.hn/secciones/crisis-politica/4776-candidatura-independiente-confirma-su-decision-de-retirarse-del-proceso">confirms</a> that he'll withdraw his candidacy for president unless Zelaya and the constitutional order are restored. Hmmmm..... <br /><br /><i><a href="http://www.mediosindependientes.info/mi/_jpg_/9/95dias-8.jpg">Image</a>: riot police at National Agrarian Institute. </i><br />.Nellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01969732734453586544noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19846531.post-25515190809813549662009-09-28T11:53:00.010-04:002009-10-02T01:03:13.929-04:00Honduras: saying my piece<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWjBWpl1PKubfLsPjombuaf1RI36qR-IDEwAbxr6ulWCnW2EItWHFrf6hnhl1GOVWAXXUCUGTeL6rgFGg2aUdHWNwVRICyvrjHUP3qxvi3iLoOgEWrrEQFY9MqhM7uZVV1J0l8Lw/s1600-h/Honduras+-+Wendy+Elizabeth+Avila.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 147px; height: 171px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWjBWpl1PKubfLsPjombuaf1RI36qR-IDEwAbxr6ulWCnW2EItWHFrf6hnhl1GOVWAXXUCUGTeL6rgFGg2aUdHWNwVRICyvrjHUP3qxvi3iLoOgEWrrEQFY9MqhM7uZVV1J0l8Lw/s320/Honduras+-+Wendy+Elizabeth+Avila.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386573618739297602" /></a>The news is <a href="http://hondurascoup2009.blogspot.com/2009/09/radio-globo-channel-36-closed-by.html">very</a> <a href="http://quotha.net/node/404">bad</a>, and I can't be on the computer much more today.<br /><br />This was my <a href="http://contact-us.state.gov/cgi-bin/state.cfg/php/enduser/ask.php?p_sid=BMxTy4Jj&p_accessibility=0&p_redirect=&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPSZwX3NvcnRfYnk9JnBfZ3JpZHNvcnQ9JnBfcm93X2NudD0xMjAsMTIwJnBfcHJvZHM9JnBfY2F0cz0mcF9wdj0mcF9jdj0mcF9zZWFyY2hfdHlwZT1hbnN3ZXJzLnNlYXJjaF9ubCZwX3BhZ2U9MQ**">email letter to the State Department</a> this morning (links added here; the previous post has more on the embassy attacks and rejection of negotiations):<br /><br /><blockquote>Subject: Honduras<br /><br />What will it take to get the U.S. government to do the right thing? How many dictatorial, murderous, and outlaw acts must the coup regime take before this department utters <i>one single word</i> of condemnation?<br /><br />Since Friday morning alone, the regime has: <br /> - mocked the UN Security Council by renewing its attacks on the Brazilian embassy, assaulting those inside with chemicals and sonic cannon (LRAD). <br /> - detained, searched, and harassed <a href="http://quotha.net/node/399">diplomatic and medical personnel</a> entering and leaving the embassy.<br /> - <a href="http://hondurascoup2009.blogspot.com/2009/09/oas-representatives-deported.html">deported</a> from the country OAS ministers arriving to help facilitate negotiations.<br /> - rejected negotiations of all kinds, including those previously agreed to (including feeble, obvious time-wasters like the 'consultations' suggested by the U.S. as announced by spokesman Ian Kelly on Thursday).<br /> - issued a <a href="http://narcosphere.narconews.com/thefield/3465/honduras-coup-leader-micheletti-decrees-45-day-suspension-constitution">decree</a> suspending basic human and constitutional rights, paving the way for even more deadly repression.<br /> - decreed the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/29/world/americas/29honduras.html">closure</a> of the only two broadcast media reporting on the regime's crimes and giving air time to the majority of citizens who support the restoration of the legitimate, elected government.<br /><br />Lives are at stake. The credibility of the U.S. government, and this administration in particular, is at stake. The future of elected democracies in the hemisphere is at stake.<br /><br />Don't delay: Immediately denounce the undemocratic, vicious repression of the Micheletti regime. Freeze the U.S. accounts of those participating in and backing the coup; you know who they are. Formally declare this a military coup, at long last, now that the masks are completely off, and follow through by ending all U.S. aid -- including the so-called "democracy promotion" money that goes exclusively to the coup-supporting organizations in the Union Civica "Democratica".<br /><br />The two-faced policy must end today. Stop encouraging the dictators in Honduras by remaining silent while they assault and murder citizens, by encouraging their run-out-the-clock-to-elections strategy with fake negotiations, and by continuing to send money while mouthing support for restoration of the constitutional order.<br /></blockquote>.<br /><i>[Image: <a href="http://quotha.net/node/405">Wendy Elizabeth Avila</a>, a law student in Tegucigalpa who died Saturday from the effects of tear gas.]</i>Nellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01969732734453586544noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19846531.post-3532286536940162422009-09-25T10:22:00.016-04:002009-10-02T01:32:01.317-04:00Honduras: reality sinking in?<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbrQkW4sK6bDj2IaXpyi35-T8LgPy-ZzI8VTfTqQOimGM3zXC0Eo928LaIpk6yKXxGVj51feQ9gL8R1U1v5W-qFPfaheCQSucPNvD1VvqM5Rp1jr3DKRSreB8fMfTg9LlxGAmDCw/s1600-h/Honduras+detenidos+22+Sept.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 268px; height: 205px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbrQkW4sK6bDj2IaXpyi35-T8LgPy-ZzI8VTfTqQOimGM3zXC0Eo928LaIpk6yKXxGVj51feQ9gL8R1U1v5W-qFPfaheCQSucPNvD1VvqM5Rp1jr3DKRSreB8fMfTg9LlxGAmDCw/s320/Honduras+detenidos+22+Sept.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5385569945659493602" /></a>The vicious and hysterical response of Micheletti and his regime to Pres. Zelaya's return has, understandably, made a negotiated settlement even less appealing to people who have been actively resisting the coup for three months. But the talking has begun. Gen. Vasquez visited the Brazilian embassy on Wednesday night (<i>purely routine! no meeting with Zelaya!</i> Uh huh.). Yesterday the four coup-supporting candidates and the Auxiliary Bishop of Tegucigalpa openly visited with Zelaya. <i>La Prensa</i>'s <a href="http://quotha.net/node/382">pictures</a> of the hugs and handshakes have elicited resentful grumbling among the resistance, but also, I have to think, deepened cracks among the coup-makers.<br /><br />The UN's action of <a href="http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_13407742">withdrawing</a> political and material/technical support for the elections has had a real effect (hence the candidates' meeting); it's a direct blow to the coup regime's strategy of pretending that the elections will be a "reset button" magically returning the country to democracy. Today the UN Security Council <a href="http://www.elpais.com/articulo/internacional/Consejo/Seguridad/ONU/decide/intervenir/crisis/Honduras/elpepuint/20090925elpepuint_1/Tes">meets</a> <i>[Sp.]</i> in a special session on Honduras (requested by Brazil on Tuesday). <br /><br /><i><b>Update 2:</b> 4:00pm, 25 Sept - </i>Yikes. On the very morning that the UN Security Council met and <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/newsMaps/idUSTRE58O4NX20090925">condemned</a> the coup regime for harassing the embassy, the military and police <a href="http://quotha.net/node/386">launch</a> tear gas and high-decibel sound attacks at it. First Lady Xiomara Castro de Zelaya reports by phone that the gas is forcing those inside to wear cloths to cover their mouths and noses, that some are vomiting blood and bleeding from the nose, and that they have severely irritated throats. Medical personnel are being prevented from getting in, as are deliveries of supplies. This is via Radio Globo, and photos appear to confirm; I'm not sure what, if any, media correspondents are inside the embassy this morning.<br /><br />A mission led by OAS chief Insulza will arrive today or tomorrow; it was planned for Tuesday but the coup regime prevented it with their lockdown of the country, which involved a 42-hour curfew, suspension of constitution, closure of all airports, and sealing of the borders. <br /><br /><i><b>Update 1:</b> 3:00pm, 25 Sept - </i>Nope. Micheletti still trying to run out the clock, per this AP <a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jAkMGKIUDg_ngUiZboxQbYj5_DPwD9AUERA80">report from two hours ago</a>:<br /><br /><blockquote>Honduras' coup-installed government plans to block the arrival of a commission of foreign ministers heading to the country this weekend to help resolve the country's political standoff, Costa Rican President Oscar Arias said Friday [on the Costa Rican radio program Nuestra Voz].<br /><br />The Nobel Peace Prize laureate who moderated previous talks between Honduras' opposing factions said the government of interim President Roberto Micheletti has told the Organization of American States not to send the ministers because they will not be allowed into the country.<br />...<br />His announcement signaled a setback just as the two sides appeared to be edging toward possibly restarting talks to end the turmoil sparked by the ousting of President Manuel Zelaya on June 28.<br /><br />Micheletti's government spokesman Rene Zepeda said interim leaders want Arias to visit Honduras first so they can explain the situation to him, and that the ministers would be welcome next week.<br /><br />Arias said he has no immediate plans to visit Honduras.</blockquote><br />The curfew, illegally imposed to begin with, has been arbitrarily lifted and reimposed several times since, and is still in effect in five departments and the border areas with Guatemala, El Salvador, and Nicaragua. There are only 9000 troops in Honduras' military; as they and police from outlying areas have been deployed to the capital to put down demonstrations and any sign of resistance (which became explosive in the many poor neighborhoods after the regime's violent crackdown and extended curfew), they're leaving behind towns and villages without much of any presence by government forces. Oscar <a href="http://quotha.net/node/376">reports</a> that local resistance organizations have announced that they will take control of their own areas and declare them liberated.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJwsZyg-c3HDSkL0y5KnpSRpGpq85b51Zj7hHuZe6xGGGxgKiA25EnZCeIP5cf2sF7efmkWsfKE2XMFLJSHJb6m3O9EffDGH08WWdScQBph2PaHCz9c0nkyvutNYE_W2aUro1T5w/s1600-h/Honduras+-+vamos+por+la+constituyente.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 213px; height: 106px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJwsZyg-c3HDSkL0y5KnpSRpGpq85b51Zj7hHuZe6xGGGxgKiA25EnZCeIP5cf2sF7efmkWsfKE2XMFLJSHJb6m3O9EffDGH08WWdScQBph2PaHCz9c0nkyvutNYE_W2aUro1T5w/s320/Honduras+-+vamos+por+la+constituyente.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5385485045443719154" /></a>This isn't only about Zelaya, but about the way politics functions in Honduras. It's a long struggle to achieve genuine, participatory democracy. The organizing that's happened in response to the coup has changed the equation since the first weeks after June 28. Pres. Zelaya grasps, I hope, that the coup-makers are not the only ones with cards to play in the negotiations that <strike>have begun</strike> may lie ahead. <br /><br /><i><b>Update 3:</b> 4:15pm, 25 Sept - </i>Given the two depressing updates above, it's clear to me that the embassy visits and "dialogue" was all for show, to buy time and unearned benefit of the doubt, while the repression continues and increases. Just how much will the U.S. government tolerate? The current U.S. ambassador to the UN got where she is by being willing to <a href="http://www.nybooks.com/articles/23054">look the other way</a> while hundreds of thousands, ultimately millions, were slaughtered. We have to put the current atrocities in their faces, and in that of the public, to have the slightest hope that this administration will do enough and in time. There's a demo on Monday in DC; it's time to enlist the "respectables" to help bring more visibility to those speaking for the Hondurans under assault.<br /><br /><i><b>Update 4:</b> 8:15pm, 25 Sept - </i>Perhaps thanks to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights' <a href="http://www.cidh.oas.org/Comunicados/English/2009/68-09eng.htm">publicizing</a> Xiomara Castro's reports, the coup regime went on the national broadcast system this afternoon to offer up lame, lying explanations for the symptoms of those suffering inside the embassy ("routine street cleaning, loud machinery"). Red Cross medical staff and Andres Pavon of the human rights organization CODEH were allowed inside; they were accompanied by UN investigators. See Al Giordano for <a href="http://narcosphere.narconews.com/thefield/3460/honduran-coup-regime-mocks-un-security-council-embassy-attacks">more</a> of the sickening story.<br /><br />Maybe this will be the last straw for some who might be heard by our government. I don't fool myself that anyone in power cares about poor Hondurans tortured and stabbed to death, or a left-wing Congressman beaten by twelve policemen right in front of the legislature in broad daylight. But the protection of embassies -- unfettered communications, entry and exit, and immunity from police or military force -- is such a fundamental basis of international law and international relations that this dirty and spiteful assault might actually shock the conscience of some elites.<br /><br /><i><b>Update 5:</b> 5:15pm, 26 Sept - </i>It's hard to overpraise the work of The Real News' Jesse Freeston over the last three months. Someone who hasn't been following the situation could get up to speed just by watching the collection of his <a href="http://therealnews.com/t/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=33&Itemid=74&jumival=408">video reports on the Honduran coup</a>, and even someone who's been paying close attention would be likely to learn things. He deserves an award. [As Charles notes in comments, in the meantime, you can express your appreciation with a <a href="http://therealnews.com/t/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=102">contribution</a> to The Real News Network.]<br />.<br /><i>[Image: men and women among the nearly 200 taken prisoner when police violently cleared the street in front of the Brazilian embassy 22 September; photo by <a href="http://www.quotha.net/node/357">Paul Carbajal</a>]</i><br />.Nellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01969732734453586544noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19846531.post-16653899233480006622009-09-22T12:47:00.013-04:002009-10-02T02:34:51.113-04:00Honduras: over the edge<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1DdpQgTf-OVzPU_wFEH_Vaye61M0e4xVqIoVn6x7Fj92-q7taQtEcOpMNBri7Z-ur2WPPjHDZl5ajb4MyOs5ndOVl7OoiLI8VXh_f2wUa7AxUncdgWcaSGQgbmIEH5TcJztjBAQ/s1600-h/Honduras+-+Zelaya+crowd+embassy+sm.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 128px; height: 77px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1DdpQgTf-OVzPU_wFEH_Vaye61M0e4xVqIoVn6x7Fj92-q7taQtEcOpMNBri7Z-ur2WPPjHDZl5ajb4MyOs5ndOVl7OoiLI8VXh_f2wUa7AxUncdgWcaSGQgbmIEH5TcJztjBAQ/s320/Honduras+-+Zelaya+crowd+embassy+sm.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5387886332990384402" /></a>The best summary of the roller coaster of events over the last two days is by Laura Carlsen. Her post <a href="http://americasmexico.blogspot.com/2009/09/zelayas-return-to-tegucigalpa-brings.html">yesterday</a>, when Zelaya returned to the capital and connected with his cabinet and his supporters in and outside the Brazilian embassy, conveyed clearly the hopeful possibilities of the development.<br /><br />The coup regime has responded by dropping even the facade of constitutionality, declaring a curfew beginning at 4 pm yesterday with no legal process whatsoever. Since then they've extended the illegal curfew, declared a state of emergency, suspended the constitution, and have begun attacking coup opponents both at the embassy and throughout the country. Carlsen has the cogent <a href="http://americasmexico.blogspot.com/2009/09/clinton-speak-clearly-now-to-avoid.html">summary</a> and the vivid details.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxbXKcfr_n01x5Mwo7UDxcFDcT2tZZWyc7k1N-O1-7Qxca6BgWwKCToCHBa69YAjiPqvQowS-Ut8yFMQ6ih0XasrZjnCLQx6YNq-w4KYW27EWgo8xpH-2Jm9NOeRHjvkrf0fHkzw/s1600-h/Honduras+-+gorillas+sweeping+embassy+street.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 141px; height: 106px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxbXKcfr_n01x5Mwo7UDxcFDcT2tZZWyc7k1N-O1-7Qxca6BgWwKCToCHBa69YAjiPqvQowS-Ut8yFMQ6ih0XasrZjnCLQx6YNq-w4KYW27EWgo8xpH-2Jm9NOeRHjvkrf0fHkzw/s320/Honduras+-+gorillas+sweeping+embassy+street.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5387886992856470402" /></a>The shameful silence of our own government is now intolerable. If it continues through the end of this day, no one will be able to deny our complicity. There's already a lot of blood on our hands; please read and act to prevent more. <i><b>Update:</b> 5:30pm, 22 Sept - </i>This <a href="http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/dpb/2009/sept/129483.htm">inadequate, equivocal crap</a> is only a baby step up from tacit endorsement of the coup regime's response. There is no mention -- much less condemnation -- of the illegal curfew, the assault on peaceful protestors, and the suspension of the constitution. Instead, the State Department "appreciates" Micheletti's "promise" to respect the Vienna convention protecting diplomatic sites, even <i>after</i> the coup regime has already violated it by cutting power, water, and phone to the Brazilian embassy.<br /><br />State Department 202-647-4000. Demand that the U.S. government publicly recognize and condemn the coup regime's abuses against peaceful political expression, media, and diplomatic integrity, and that stronger actions be taken to sanction the coup participants.<br /><br /><i><b>Update 2:</b> 6:15pm, 22 Sept - </i>One ray of optimism: Giordano says (no source) that the administration has invited Rep. Bill Delahunt, sponsor of the strongest anti-coup resolution in Congress, to join the UN delegation in New York. He's certain to be a voice for effective measures; good on whoever had that idea. Brazil has asked for a Security Council session on the crisis; another good idea.<br /><br />News reports from those in touch with Hondurans and on-the-scene observers as well as the now-intermittent internet transmissions from Radio Globo and other media under siege:<br /><a href="http://hondurascoup2009.blogspot.com">RAJ/RNS</a>, <a href="http://quotha.net">Adrienne Pine</a>, <a href="http://narconews.com">Al Giordano</a>, DailyKos posters <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/9/22/85946/4086?detail=f">1</a> <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/9/22/785262/-Honduras:-Zelaya-Returns,-Micheletti-Unleashes-Repression">2</a>, <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/9/24/104642/660">9/24 UN</a>, <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/9/24/163927/769">9/24 OAS</a>, and <a href="http://phoenixwoman.wordpress.com">Charles</a> the indispensable.<br />.Nellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01969732734453586544noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19846531.post-90807300052720054632009-09-04T11:59:00.013-04:002009-10-02T00:55:51.636-04:00Honduras: long road no matter what<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_YZIGZuXLv63LrtxxootlEQkJAxl1A8j7vn6jtGK5JFZz5IR-nEaDuwwqF6o7r-eqonK85awDMT3-tnLF5GwdmIv8qdWrcufLtdLOAtj3JcLvxM8rmjBHpLkl2E-LXkDVAqTFyA/s1600-h/Honduras+-+marchers+arriving+in+Teguc+from+Siguatepeque+11+Aug+Shaun+Joseph+Quixote+Ctr.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_YZIGZuXLv63LrtxxootlEQkJAxl1A8j7vn6jtGK5JFZz5IR-nEaDuwwqF6o7r-eqonK85awDMT3-tnLF5GwdmIv8qdWrcufLtdLOAtj3JcLvxM8rmjBHpLkl2E-LXkDVAqTFyA/s320/Honduras+-+marchers+arriving+in+Teguc+from+Siguatepeque+11+Aug+Shaun+Joseph+Quixote+Ctr.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5377720840341115186" /></a>Authentic democracy means that people at the grassroots level actually participate in shaping the policies and laws that affect their lives. We don't have that here, and we're not getting any closer to having it. <br />There's no mass movement to demand it, and there won't even begin to be for some time. Many of the people and organizations that might form part of such a movement in the U.S. are still waiting and hoping for some shadow of the changes they thought they were voting for last year. A few are beginning to grasp that in some fundamental ways, the major political parties here are not really so different than they are in Honduras: two wings of the rich overclass, one with a slightly more warm and fuzzy reputation, but neither willing to broaden the small group of people who really make decisions.<br /><br />But there is such a movement in Honduras. It's been building for decades. Thanks to the arrogance of those who funded and organized the overthrow of the elected president, and to the half-support of our government, the coup regime has sparked sustained resistance that has fused that movement into a national organization. <br /><br />They have a concrete goal: <i>la constituyente</i>, a national constituent assembly to rewrite Honduras' constitution. Restoring President Zelaya to office between now and the November 29 elections will not change that, because, as independent presidential candidate Carlos Reyes <a href="http://quotha.net/node/305">said</a> this week, constitutional reform is the only way out of the country's social and political crisis.<br /><br />A long-term, nonviolent organizing movement facing a repressive government that represents the rich needs every human resource it can call on. Faith is one such resource, and Honduras is blessed with several priests and bishops who recognize that the church needs to be with the people. International solidarity is another. The national resistance is devoting the fall to organizing itself down to the local level, and has called on supporters abroad, particularly in the United States, to form solidarity committees. The first international <a href="http://hibueras.blogspot.com/2009/09/la-constituyente-es-la-base-del-dialogo.html">conference</a> for a <i>constituyente</i> will take place in Tegucigalpa October 8-10.<br /><br /><i><b>Update:</b> 3:30 pm, September 18 - </i>Admin note: This post was begun and saved on the date shown, but posted today around noon. Another excellent video from <a href="http://therealnews.com/t/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=4235">RealNews</a>'s Jesse Freeston on the topic of this post is out today (link includes transcript). It features Oscar Estrada, the Honduran filmmaker and resistance participant whose dispatches have appeared on Adrienne Pine's <a href="http://quotha.net">blog</a> since the coup.<br />.<br /><i>[Image: marchers from La Esperanza heading to the capital for the national demonstration on August 11. Shaun Joseph, <a href="http://quixote.org/node/944">Quixote Center</a>.]</i>Nellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01969732734453586544noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19846531.post-7856864322773238392009-08-27T16:05:00.014-04:002009-09-04T20:06:47.460-04:00Honduras: beat the clock<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbsstzMJxYpai1AKnTj39r3PibbMbkqT867TpKTnSbHQk185iiscUhSdeMho_WrQvRwVGGDUTAdDD8AtZbTaj14_7Bom9CEEH0Tde4V5rV983QNYwS7yTT_8YApFCqWFTHSVSH9A/s1600-h/Honduras+-+military+coup.jpeg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 135px; height: 86px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbsstzMJxYpai1AKnTj39r3PibbMbkqT867TpKTnSbHQk185iiscUhSdeMho_WrQvRwVGGDUTAdDD8AtZbTaj14_7Bom9CEEH0Tde4V5rV983QNYwS7yTT_8YApFCqWFTHSVSH9A/s320/Honduras+-+military+coup.jpeg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5375839087108948498" /></a><i>Finally</i>, the State Department <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/27/AR2009082702778.html">ends</a> its six-week charade of "legal review":<br /><blockquote>U.S. State Department staff have recommended that the ouster of Honduran President Manuel Zelaya be declared a "military coup," a U.S. official said on Thursday, a step that could cut off as much as $150 million in U.S. funding to the impoverished Central American nation.</blockquote><br />This move was heavily <a href="http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2009/aug/128373.htm">foreshadowed</a> in the press backgrounder by two State Dept. officials on Tuesday that accompanied the baby step of suspending non-emergency travel visas:<br /><br /><blockquote>SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: We have said from the very beginning, what we do know is that the legitimate government, the legitimate president, was taken out of office in a way that was not prescribed, in a way that was unexpected and forced. And we call that a coup, a coup to the head of the government.<br /><br />There are specific ... laws ... that deals with ... the way we can handle assistance and the way we can handle our relationship with a country if there is a military coup, if the person in charge of, leading, and then taking over the government after the coup are the military. And we are examining to determine whether or not that’s the case here.<br /><br />QUESTION: Thank you. One last question. Just when would you expect to finish that inquiry? <br /><br />SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: Immediately.</blockquote><br />Stories appeared as soon as Tuesday afternoon reporting that the U.S. government was considering the formal coup declaration, and the backgrounder was released yesterday afternoon. On Tuesday the military and police high command huddled with coup backer Jorge Canahuati. Yesterday Cardinal Rodgriguez met with the officials of COHEP, the business council. Micheletti increased the guard around his house. Yet the oligarchs did not seem to have been willing to take the broad hint the U.S. was dropping: to push Micheletti aside. So today, a day before the two-month mark of the coup regime, the other shoe drops. Monday the election campaigns formally begin.<br /><br />We await news of further meetings in Tegucigalpa and will update.<br /><br /><i><b>Update:</b> 4:00pm, 28 August - </i>Twenty-four hours later, and two months into the coup, no action by Sec. Clinton. I've expressed the idea that yesterday's leak was a big signal to the coup backers to act so the U.S. wouldn't have to take this step. Clinton is clearly reluctant to take it, and apparently even a laughable "new" <a href="http://hondurascoup2009.blogspot.com/2009/08/meet-new-kid-same-as-old-kid-nothing.html">proposal from Micheletti</a> is enough to stay her hand. Don't let her get away with it:<br /><br /><b>Call* and <a href="http://contact-us.state.gov/cgi-bin/state.cfg/php/enduser/std_alp.php">write</a> the State Department.</b> Urge Sec. Clinton to:<br /><br /> - immediately formally declare the coup a military coup. <br /><br /> - denounce the continuing <a href="http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/AMR37/004/2009/en">human rights</a> <a href="http://www.cidh.org/Comunicados/English/2009/60-09eng.Preliminary.Observations.htm">violations</a> by the coup regime.<br /><br /> - announce U.S. support for an Organization of American States resolution declaring that the November elections will not be recognized unless the Zelaya government is restored by September 1.<br /><br />*202-647-4000; wait through recordings for operator, ask to leave message. The calls and messages can go on all weekend, so take action and pass this on to friends. Two months is appalling; this shouldn't have lasted two days.<br /><br /><i><b>Update 2:</b> 8:00pm, 4 September - </i>Scorecard a week later: 0 for 3, with a lot of gestures and spinning. The glass-half-full <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/03/AR2009090302624.html">perspective</a>, that the government <i>"formally cut off millions of dollars in assistance to Honduras because of the coup that occurred two months ago, and threatened to withhold recognition of the new president who emerges from elections scheduled in November"</i> can only be maintained by ignoring the unpleasant details: <br /><br />This is the same money that was suspended two months ago, not the much more substantial cutoff that a formal coup designation would require. The non-recognition threat was couched like <a href="http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2009/sept/128608.htm">this</a>: <i>That election must be undertaken in a free, fair and transparent manner. It must also be free of taint and open to all Hondurans to exercise their democratic franchise. At this moment, we would not be able to support the outcome of the scheduled elections.</i>. Charles of Mercury Rising correctly <a href="http://phoenixwoman.wordpress.com/2009/09/03/honduras-coup-act-iii-day-42/">translates</a> this as: "Put enough lipstick on the pig and we'll kiss it."<br /><br />Sec. Clinton is demonstrating her formidable capacity for "going deaf." President Zelaya said on Wednesday he intended to focus his talks with her on the severe and continuing human rights abuses of the coup regime. Presumably he did so, but she still hasn't said a single word on the subject. Rep. Howard Berman, chair of the House Foreign Relations committee and one of the most powerful figures in the Democratic party, forthrightly urged her in an <a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-berman3-2009sep03,0,4312741.story"><i>LA Times</i> op ed</a> to formally designate the military coup and invoke the sanctions that go with it. She ignored him.<br /><br />Berman's op ed is unusually good. He invokes the multiple credible reports of human rights abuses, the impact on the rest of the elected governments in the hemisphere, and decency and common sense against letting the coup stand. Use it and its arguments to get your member of Congress to put pressure on Sec. Clinton, to write letters to the editor, and to continue to needle the State Department.Nellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01969732734453586544noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19846531.post-73306737755488419282009-08-24T14:31:00.002-04:002009-08-24T14:37:18.994-04:00Simple answers to simple questions<a href="http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/08/23/joe_klein/index.html">Glenn Greenwald</a>: <i>Looking back several decades or more from now, who will possibly be able to understand how that happened: the almost perfect inverse relationship between one's culpability and the price they paid for what they unleashed?</i><br /><br />A: People who've been alive long enough to see the same thing happen again and again to the 'unleashers': Henry Kissinger, George H.W. Bush, all the Iran-Contra criminals who came right back into policy-making positions under Bush II...Nellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01969732734453586544noreply@blogger.com9